Reverse Rebirth
by Zeromaru Chaos Mode
Summary: With the world hanging in the balance, Zero utilized a forbidden power to rewind the clock. Now, under his watchful eye, Harry Potter will be able to finally defeat Voldemort. Sequel to From Fantasy to Reality.
1. Prologue

It's funny…things…shouldn't have been this way.

I mean, technically…they would have won. Harry had tapped into a near godlike power…Hermione had accessed Alchemy's true potential…Luna was at least halfway at Harry's level, and Bella was just below Hermione in terms of power.

So…what went wrong?

Clotho. It's all her fault. It's funny, for a goddess that constantly harped on me for interfering, she goes and does the same thing…and nearly destroys an entire world in the process.

You see…that world…wasn't ready for two nearly godlike beings to clash. The influx of energy surrounding the defeat of one of them would send shockwaves through the world itself. And then, because of the vacuum created by the absence of that power, the other would die as well, creating yet another influx, which would _then _basically unravel the world around them.

But it didn't HAVE to come to that. You see, Voldemort, before Clotho fucked with things, was reasonably strong enough as an avatar of Darkness. What with his pseudo-immortality and all. And Harry…well, his power was a tad bit out of hand, but it was still within the realistic restraints of this world. But when Clotho started messing with things…ugh…both of them grew far stronger than the world's natural limits allowed.

Now having two or more people stronger than your worlds limits allow is alright…as long as its balanced between them, and there's backups to sustain the power when those holding it inevitably die. This world didn't have such a thing. So when Clotho decided to screw around…you get the idea.

So, because this world was NOT meant to end any time soon, not to mention the end of this world in such a way would cause the disruption and potential end of the worlds connected to it, I decided, reluctantly I might add, to enact a right as a higher level being to revert that particular world back to the state it was in, BEFORE Clotho fucked around.

But why bother? You ask. She's just going to do it again. That…would be true…but…I believe it's time to remind those idiots exactly _why _I'm called the God Slayer.

When I'm done, I will _personally _make sure this battle ends without destroying this world. It should have been over a LONG time ago…Harry…Hermione…Luna…Bella…I promise…this time…

I'll make things right.

**Reverse Rebirth**

* * *

And here we are. The beginning of a new beginning of an old story. The next chapter (AKA the first) will contain a very…uhh…graphic depiction of Clotho's elimination…so…if you don't like that sort of thing…keep away. The Harry stuff will begin in the second chapter. Though you may be annoyed with me…honestly, look at things logically. The abrupt ending was not planned, but, at least it gives me a chance to do things right, rather than just start an entirely new story with no regard to the other.

Plus, story-wise, everything Zero said was true. Their world can't handle that much energy being there, and then suddenly not. Few can.


	2. Severing Fate

**Reverse Rebirth**

**Chapter I: Death of a Goddess**

"What the hell is wrong with you!? Using a technique like that! It could destabilize-

"Don't you _dare _try to lecture me on destabilization. I did what needed to be done, and I will continue to do so."

"What are you-

Zero's form flickered. His hair grew longer, and became streaked with white. A flowing robe engulfed him as two long slash marks appeared vertically over his eyes. Death took a step backwards.

"No…you're not going to-

"Clotho has overstepped her limits one too many times. If I hadn't acted when I did that entire sector would have been thrown into chaos. It is clear she is no longer fit for the role of Weaver, something I had told you many a time. However, no longer will I allow your excuses to stay my hand."

"You can't just punish her though…"

"I am aware of this. Her sisters will receive their punishment at the same time."

Knowing how cruel he could be when his mind was in this state, Death realized what he was going to do…

"You're horrible…"

"It is a fitting punishment. They themselves had no active hand in her manipulations; however, they stayed and watched as she did so, without making moves to stop her. Therefore they shall watch as she is erased."

"You've already started haven't you?"

"They are confined to posts in the council room. Clotho has received a summons there; she will attend where her sentence shall be carried out."

"I don't like this."

"A new Weaver must be found afterwards. I have one in mind, but I am not the leader of your group, I am simply the assassin."

He began walking away.

"Did she really…almost end an entire sector?"

"I had to use the _System Chronos._"

Death gasped, that was one of three ultimate Temporal Manipulatory spells. She hung her head as Zero walked away…

* * *

(BGM: Valkyrie Profile 2 – Unrestrained Struggle)

They knew. They all knew what was going to happen. There was going to be no battle. It was going to be a slaughter. The rumors were flying. Zero had been spotted in his Shinigami attire. The REAL Shinigami. They knew whoever was called was going to die, and not return…ever. When he was wild and uncontrolled he was fearsome enough, for his instincts took over and made him a powerful beast. But when he was angry enough that he would become cold and calculated…

Let's just say entire worlds were decimated at his will in that state…

The young looking Weaver entered the chamber, a large stone almost coliseum looking building. She saw her sisters tied to crosses in the distance and gasped. She raced towards them only to be knocked backward by an invisible force.

"What's going on here?!"

"Clotho, Weaver of Destiny, one of three Sisters of Fate. For your crimes against the realm of Mortals, for your blatant disregard for Mortal existence and for your extensive misuse of your power and station, you have been sentenced to complete and total annihilation."

She looked around and saw Zero standing in between the pillars.

"Bastard! Let them go! They had nothing to do with that!"

"Indeed. They took no action either way, therefore, their punishment for not stopping you is to watch as you are destroyed. A fitting punishment, considering they did nothing but watch as you toyed with Mortal souls."

As much as she wanted to, Clotho could not argue with that. Had they assisted her, they would be erased as well, but since they didn't even try to stop her, they were to be forced to watch as she died…but…nobody said she'd go down without a fight.

She summoned two spheres of negative energy.

"Then come get me."

"Your struggle will be meaningless…_**I shall tear asunder the sisterly bond!"**_

Clotho launched the spheres of energy, but they impacted upon a barrier around him. Suddenly a glowing circle of power appeared beneath his feet. The circle flashed yellow, and a tendril of gold lashed out at her. She flicked it away with a small silver strand of energy that was emitted from her fingertips, but another appeared and struck. She batted that one away as well…but then more came. She swung her arms wildly around her, deflecting the golden tendrils of sand that tried to strike her…until one pierced her defenses.

She gasped as it wrapped itself around her right arm. She tried to rip it off, but as she moved to do so, another wrapped around her…then another, and another, until she was one big bundle of sand. The Higher Deity's eyes widened as they realized what he was going to do.

But he surprised them all. Instead of crushing her like normal; a series of stone lances slammed into the bundle of sand, impaling the goddess. Some of the sand stained slightly red with her blood, turning it a dirty brown color. But then, bolts of lightning raced towards the stone lances and electrified the goddess within.

_**The circle turned red, as a yellow dot appeared on the outer rim.**_

The lances and sand vanished into thin air…but a series of flaming chains impaled her body from all sides. A sphere of white hot lava launched itself from in front of Zero. The goddess held back a scream of pain.

_**The circle turned green, as a red dot appeared on the outer rim.**_

A wave of solid air slammed into the goddess, solidifying the lava into hard earth. Zero kneeled down and touched the ground, which rippled underneath his fingers as a green glyph flashed into existence for a moment. Milliseconds later, a series of gigantic thorn covered roots erupted from beneath the goddess, impaling and entangling her in them. Her blood flowed freely down the sides of the roots, as her sisters cried silent tears of sorrow.

_**The circle turned blue, as a green dot appeared on the outer rim, opposite the red.**_

The coliseum rumbled as a giant twister of water erupted from beneath Clotho, ripping through her and trapping her within its mighty vortex. Slowly, four small spheres emerged from the twister and floated away from it. They slowly morphed into small spikes and were suddenly turned to ice. The ice lances slammed into the center of the vortex, again, impaling the goddess.

_**The circle turned black as a blue dot appeared opposite the yellow.**_

A giant black orb appeared where Clotho stood and engulfed her, slowly constricting into a tiny dot.

_**The circle turned white, as a black dot appeared below and between the green and red.**_

The black orb was then engulfed in a blinding white light that scorched the area around it.

_**The circle turned silver, as a white dot appeared above and between the yellow and blue.**_

A transparent image of a giant clock appeared around Clotho. The clock's hands rotated…and slowly halted. When they did, the clock shattered…and Clotho was frozen in place.

_No…please…no!_

An emotionless look on his face, Zero held out his right hand. The circle of power beneath him flared with energy, and in front of him formed a red cross. The cross became surrounded by a ring, and on the upper and lower tips of the cross, the tips extended into arrow shaped blades. Everyone present gasped.

_The Divine Treasure…Gungnir!_

"He transformed the Wand of the Terror of Death into the Divine Treasure Gungnir?!"

But he wasn't done.

He placed his left hand next to his right…and seemed to twist the 'hilt' like a wheel. The left side of the arrow tipped blade split from its right, and shifted. Now, what once was a double ended blade, became…

"A Fuuma Shuriken?"

The weapon formed a glowing disk of energy around it. From that disk four small pillars appeared and reached forward like a claw. The claw turned inward where a glowing orb of energy formed. Around the orb formed transparent rings containing hundreds of different symbols.

"_**Chaotic Requiem."**_

The orb rocketed towards Clotho and slammed into her, eliciting an ear piercing scream of agony from the young looking goddess.

The four claws returned to their erect state as a series of pillars appeared around the weapon, turning it into what looked like a satellite dish. The transparent pillars rotated, one set clockwise, the other set counterclockwise. The orb splintered and began firing lances of light into the spinning rings, forming a path between the two. Six points of light, yellow, red, green, blue, black and white, appeared around the center of the rings. Each light fired a beam of its respective element into the orb. The orb then flew from Clotho's body and into the spinning disk.

The pillars faded…but the beams of light remained. With a single pulse of energy, the beams seemed to enlarge for a split second…and after that moment…Clotho's body shattered to pieces, turning into millions of glowing lights that were absorbed into Gungnir.

Zero sighed as Gungnir vanished and his appearance returned to normal. The crosses holding Atropos and Lachesis vanished, sending the two older women crashing to the ground. He looked up to the watching, fearful gods.

"This was a show. A visual lesson for you. Overstep your boundaries too many times without good reason and you will be erased. And not always like this. She was a higher level Deity. That required me to weaken her considerably before she could be erased."

He turned to the remaining two sisters.

"Find a Mortal by the name of Suzumiya Haruhi. She is a good candidate for your new sister."

And with that he began to leave.

"WAIT!"

Atropos called out to him.

"What is it?"

"That world…the world she was meddling in…what are you going to do?"

"I will weave that world's thread myself."

And then he vanished in a wave of silver.

* * *

And that begins the new story. Clotho, the Weaver of Destiny, has been destroyed. No reincarnation, but complete and utter annihilation. I hope this was a good start for you. Next chapter involves a different decision about Bellatrix's letter…and a great deal of Darker Minded Harry. You'll see what I mean soon enough.

D&S Master: Here's the beginning of undoing what was done. It just gets better from here on.


	3. First Change

**Reverse Rebirth**

**Chapter II: The First Divergence**

(BGM: Kingdom Hearts II: Cavern of Remembrance)

"_It's just a letter from an old friend." He said. "It's kinda personal, so I'm gonna take it to my room, Kay?"_

Of course, he left before anyone could object. He was now standing in his room, using a piece of white chalk to draw a series of runes in a circle on the empty floor. Once finished, he wiped his brow and stared at the letter again.

_The second I do this…she'll appear…and when she does, this array will confine her until I'm certain it's not a ruse. Hmph, bet Moody never thought of this…_

"Mighty Earth, Flame, Gale and Sea, I call upon your powers to assist me. When the time of arrival comes, confine thou who shall step into thy domain and bind they till my will be done!"

He didn't think it would work, but the four edges of the diamond surrounding the center circle of the array lit up.

_Wicked. Alright…now…_

He placed his wand on the mark at the very end of the letter, and then tossed it into the circle.

_I wait…_

_There it is. He's actually going to summon me…good thing this meeting's over, or I'd be hard pressed to ignore it…_

The summons felt like a branding iron in her mind. A screaming noise telling her to follow the line that is connected to her magic. Safely confined in her room, she took a deep breath and allowed the summons to wash over her. With a small flash of light, Bellatrix Lestrange...was now about to enter the home of the Order of the Phoenix.

A few moments later, there was a flash of light, and a figure appeared in front of Harry. He stood, wand at the ready, as Bellatrix's foot touched down on the glyph. As soon as it did, the array activated and a glowing field of energy surrounded her.

"What the hell?"

"A precaution. Though your letter, while written in your blood, stated your supposed sincerity…I couldn't just take that chance without some insurance."

"And here Snape kept saying you were an idiot…hmph…I can't wait to show that greasy bastard what you're really capable of."

"And I can't wait to bomb some dodongos, but that's irrelevant."

Bellatrix got a confused look on her face.

"I want proof that you won't just up and betray me. Solid, undeniable proof."

"I, Bellatrix Lestrange, second to Last of the original Black line, hereby swear on my heart, magic and soul, to always be faithful and loyal to Harry Potter and his ideals, lest my magic be wrought from my body and my soul be cast into eternal torment."

A blinding flare of light engulfed the room. Unseen to the two of them, both Bellatrix's Dark Mark, and Harry's scar glowed a faint white. The mark on the lady's arm morphed from its original form, to that of a black sword with a pair of wings outstretched. The two of them rubbed their eyes when the light faded.

"Well…I…guess that's proof enough…" He made a single gesture with his hand.

"Thy task is complete. Many thanks to thee for thy assistance."

The glyph shattered…however…the energy swirled around Bellatrix for a few moments, before flying directly into Harry. He stumbled for a bit shuddering as the foreign magic merged with his core. A ghostly voice rang in his head.

_**The Spirits of Wind, Earth, Fire and Water are pleased with your actions, thus have granted you potential to better control their power. Use it well, Harry Potter…**_

"Harry! Are you alright?"

"Y-yeah…I think…something really awesome just happened…but I can't for the life of me be certain. Anyway, we've got more important things to do."

Over the course of the next hour, Harry explained about his bracelets, what they were capable of, and some of the new things he could do with his magic. Bellatrix was amazed by the details in which he could see, specifically those about watching people appear by portkey. She noted his skill with runes, to which he replied that he's good, but not that good.

"Given time, Hermione'll be better than me. That is…assuming I give her back that book…"

He gave her a demonstration of how the bracelets worked by using them on the letter itself, turning it into a blank piece of paper by drawing out the ink from it. He stated how he'd never really used them on a human, Krecher not counting because he wanted to blow the fucker to bits in the first place. Bellatrix stood and told him to try. He wasn't sure of her sudden decision to be a test subject, but she shook her head and told him if by dying she gave him the chance to restore Neville's family, then that is the path she chooses.

Before he tried, he made one single statement.

"I'd rather you live and help restore Neville's family."

**

* * *

**

**(Grimmauld Place: Next Morning)**

(BGM: dot Hack Legend of Twilights Bracelet – Unsuitable Monster)

The young mages were all eating breakfast. Some of the adults were there too. Hermione wondered where Harry was. Luna simply stated he will be here when he gets here, no sooner, no later. That irritated Hermione, as usual, but she stayed silent.

A few minutes later, Harry walked in, but someone was behind him. Ron and the others dropped what they were doing and stared at the woman behind Harry. Long black hair flowed down her back as piercing violet eyes took in the sight of the room. She wore a simple black sweat jacket with little purple birds patterned around it and a black skirt with dark violet trim on the lower edge, reaching down to her knees.

"Uhh…Harry? Who is that?"

"This is the woman who sent the letter. The friend from a while ago. Everyone, this is Hrist."

Immediately Hermione's eyes narrowed. _I've heard that name before…but where?_

Luna smiled. _I see…so he chose to do that…very well…_

"Mate…you been holding out on us?"

Harry shook his head. "Nah, I just…well, with everything that's happened over the years…I kinda…forgot."

Bellatrix spoke. "I'm not surprised…I mean, last time I saw you you were just a little kid."

"Yeah well…"

Hermione's mind was going a mile a minute. _Something…doesn't add up…_

Harry grabbed a plate of eggs and bacon and handed it to Hrist, then grabbed another one for himself.

"I didn't learn she was a Witch until last night. She's gonna teach me a few things for a bit, so we only came down to grab some food and get back to training."

"Well…Harry…"

"I brought her here to protect her from Voldemort. Though she's a Pureblood, she's pretty actively against him. She needed a safe place to stay, and I needed a tutor in some of the stronger spells. Plus, she's pretty good with some obscure branches of magic that might give us an edge."

Hrist walked over to where Hermione was sitting. She excused herself and reached just slightly past the girl to grab a fork from the set of them on the table. Her sleeve rose just a tad, enough to expose a black marking on her forearm. Hermione's eyes widened. Hrist and Harry left the room.

_She…has a Dark Mark! But Harry…he's been so strange lately…he wouldn't believe it if I told him…I have to tell Dumbledore!_

**

* * *

**

**(That Night)**

Hermione lay awake in bed. The past few days events racing through her mind. _Did I do the right thing? Of course I did, she has a dark mark, she has to be a death eater! But…what if she's not…or what if she was, but wanted out? It doesn't matter; Dumbledore will do what's right. He always does._

She blinked…but when she opened her eyes…she was in a strange location.

(BGM: Chrono Cross – Garden of the Gods)

Around her was a series of trees. She sat in a clearing where a single gigantic tree stood. Above her, the stars twinkled brilliantly, as the moon's rays illuminated the grassy clearing.

"You really think you did the right thing?"

"Oh…it's you again. Yes. Dumbledore will figure things out."

A man, around his late teens, stepped out from behind the tree. He shook his head.

"Kit, Dumbledore is a powerful mage, that he is. He has intelligence, that he does, but he is still naught more than human. He has made a grievous mistake in placing your friend Harry with his relatives that hate all that is beyond their understanding. He continues to make those mistakes. Tell me, what do you know of Voldemort?"

"He is a horrible beast of a man that wishes for the destruction of everything that isn't pure of blood."

"Yes, but he wasn't always like that. He was first a boy named Tom Riddle. A boy, who Dumbledore constantly returned to the one location where he was hated, beaten and scorned, just for existing."

"Yes but-

He kneeled down and gently brushed her frizzy curls out of her face. "Hermione…you're doing it again."

She flushed slightly and turned away. "I just…can't imagine that…"

"I know, my little butterfly, I know. But he will continue to make those mistakes. He is old, he is set in his ways. Think about it. You know now that Voldemort cannot be destroyed easily. Seven ways his soul was split supposedly. But Dumbledore, he knew where Voldemort's spirit resided. He knew where that horrid beast of a once brilliant man lay, waiting, gathering power, to return. And he did nothing. Surely, you don't believe that with all his supposed power, Dumbledore couldn't have at least bought more time for Harry to live the life Dumbledore claims he wanted the boy to live? Surely, he couldn't have found a family of Squibs, to place the boy with, so he would grow humble, knowing the strengths and weaknesses of both worlds? To him, a man seeped in war and pain, Harry is a tool. A precious tool, but a tool none the less. He ignored Tom Riddle's pains and problems, and in turn, had a hand in creating the being known as Voldemort. He did nothing but sit idly by while Voldemort's wandering spirit gained ground, when he could have performed any form of ritual to at least slow its progress."

Hermione bowed her head and sighed.

"I know…I understand but…"

"You are like him. You wish to give certain people multiple chances to redeem themselves…but by doing so, ignore the possibility that they might prefer remaining themselves."

She sighed again.

"You have a brilliant mind Hermione. And I know you hate feeling inferior…even though you're not. You need not prove anything to anyone. Those that matter will see your greatness and respect you for who you are. But you need to relax. You need to trust in Harry, trust in his decisions. You cannot hope to keep him from making mistakes. You must be there, to show him where he erred, and guide him back to the path he wishes to walk. Your path is not his, and his path may not be yours, but it doesn't mean you cannot accompany one another."

"I…I know."

"Also, do try to open your mind to Luna's thoughts a bit more. She is more special than you, or any other than Harry seem to realize. She is the way she is, because that is how she chooses to be. I will not spill on her personal secrets, but I will say this. She is the light to your shadow. Where your mind is based on logic and written word, hers is based on possibility, and the chance of fantasy. Have you ever not thought, just because it has not been documented, it may still exist?"

"But…her beliefs are so…out there!"

"As are yours concerning house elves. You do nothing to gain more knowledge on their station, rather viewing them like you would another human. The problem is they are not human. Yes, they are sentient life, and therefore should be granted the same rights as other sentient life, but what if they do not understand those rights? What if they don't _want _those rights? You cannot equate them to beings like Centaurs and Goblins, sentient life forms that seek their own way. They are their own species, their own race. To better their lives, you must first understand how they view their lives, how they view their race. It is obvious they have powerful magic at their disposal, so what if they _choose _to work for a family? Or perhaps the ambient magic _creates _them? There are far too many factors involved."

"I see your point. Honestly though, how is it you know so much about me? About us?"

"Because I am always watching, my little butterfly." She gave him a coy smile.

"Even while we shower? You naughty boy."

"Well…I tend to…er…avert my sight…hey wait a minute!"

Hermione laughed. "I'm teasing you. I trust you more than that."

"You'd better…or I won't tell you how you did on your OWLs."

"YOU KNOW?!"

"I know a _lot _of things. I know who Harry's guest is, where she came from and all that. I know almost exactly what's going to happen tomorrow when they come down for the order meeting, which you all will be invited to, by the way."

"Finally!"

"Oh believe me…there will be sparks. And there will be flames. Though…with _their _help, Harry will understand things a great deal more clearly. He is more powerful than anyone could imagine…and he is learning to control that power. Stand by him, the way you did in fourth year, when Ron did not. Be his voice of reason, but HIS reason, not yours. Remember, he must make his own mistakes, and you cannot nag him about things. He has things to do that are far more important than the things you need to do. Homework, school, can all wait. This world is now at war, and he is the key to the victory or defeat of the common man. Dumbledore's time has passed. He is naught more than a figurehead now. He can do little, for his word will begin to hold less sway once it gets out that he was responsible for Voldemort's uprising. And it WILL get out."

"You're going to do something aren't you?"

"Yep. I have to. This world…has potential. And now, I can actually do something for it."

"Do be careful. I barely even know who you are yet the times we spent talking have been so…enlightening."

"Oh you'll be seeing more of me soon enough."

"What do you mean?"

"Can't say…sore wa himitsu desu."

"A secret? Now you've gotten me interested."

He gave her a light kiss and smiled.

"Relax, my little butterfly…you'll get your answers…and maybe…I'll teach you a few things."

"Just do be gentle, I'd rather not be sore for days."

"Oh you horny little tramp!"

"Well, you know what they say about the quiet ones…"

The man burst out laughing.

"I swear…it's a good thing I started talking to you."

"Yes I believe you, how do I put it…ahh yes. 'Removed the stick up my arse.'"

"…that's too easy, I'm not going to fall for that one."

"Oh pooh…I was hoping to catch you with that."

"You're a slick one Hermione-

"In more ways than one."

"Would you-Jesus Mary and Joseph you're nuts."

"I can't help it. It's so much…easier…to think about those things here, rather than there."

"Well here you're more in tune with yourself. Alright here's your next task. Let go."

"That's…going to be difficult."

"I know. But try. If you succeed, I'll teach you something that will make you a bit less useless in the next brawl."

"Gee thanks."

"Just telling it like it is Kit."

"Wanker."

"Not so far today kit."

"Gah, you're impossible! Fine, I'll give it a try…"

"Maybe practice some of those gymnastics you used to do. Flexibility is key in many a battle…besides…can't be shown up by Luna now can you?"

"She does gymnastics?"

"Not often, but she is rather flexible…that girl will be a very formidable foe."

"I know…she downed a Death Eater in a single shot…"

"How's your wound anyway?"

"Better, thanks to you. The healers said I'd have a scar from it…but you got rid of that."

"Yeah well…"

"And don't bother saying it was to get below my top, because I know you'd be lying."

"Balls…anyway, you'd best wake up kit. Long day ahead."

"Will we meet again tomorrow night?"

"Maybe…unlikely though, I've got to make more preparations…but like I said…you'll be seeing more of me soon."

She gave him a sultry look and ran her finger under his chin.

"And maybe you'll be seeing more of me as well…"

And then…she vanished.

The man sighed. "I swear…that girl…"

He looked up at the moon. "Maybe…it's a good thing I did what I did…she seems more…natural…they all do…"

He started walking towards a glowing portal.

"But first…I have to go get Harry's dog father back…"

And vanished as well…

* * *

Here's the next chapter. As you can see, things have changed, hence the chapter title. Hermione's character will be a good bit different than last time. I have VERY interesting plans for her. Luna, Bellatrix and Harry will be different too. Not by much but…ehh, you'll see.

Hunter 1: As it is now, Haruhi is untrained in her power. She doesn't know she can change the world around her as she sees fit. But actually if you look at the two part episode of the Island Resort Mystery, she actually understood what would happen if what she realized was truth, and worried for Kyon. Then her power activated and actually CREATED a person to take the hit for him. She has love, she has compassion, she has sympathy, she just doesn't show it often. Personally, I think, with a bit of tutoring, she'd be a fine weaver. Mostly because her meddling would probably be focused on whatever world she's currently in, and she'd just do things out of boredom…but if she DOES do something wrong, she actually has the presence of mind to fix it.

As for the Quote…nope. But good guess.

D&S Master: yes I do. And actually I developed a trick. They all say wait for the Time Devourer to cast the Yellow element. I say screw that. Attack to get your grid up then guard till all three are at full stamina. Have Serge cast the first, then whoever's next attack with a 1, then the next element, and then after that, the next one attack with a 2 and the next element. Just keep doing that to refill someone's stamina to full so that way you can pull out the Chrono Cross in one sitting.

Gungnir will be explained next chapter. GO WATCH IT! It's a funny anime. Plus, all the girls are hot.

In response to Ranger Dragen's PM: I'm answering this way cause I'm sure others have the same question. Yes and no. Luna and Harry is a definite, but Hermione…she's probably gonna be with someone else. And Bellatrix will take on a more sisterly role.

Alright, you all have till next chapter to figure out where last chapter's Quote came from, along with the name Hrist. This should be easy. Oh and who can tell me where "I cant wait to bomb some dodongos" came from?


	4. Arrival and Return

**Reverse Rebirth**

**Chapter III: Second Divergence – Wrapped in Black**

(BGM: Final Fantasy VIII – SeeD)

After a long night of training Harry felt he was ready to bring her down to the Order. He waited outside the door for a few minutes, while the meeting went on. He was expected within, for his friends were already there. They had knocked on his door the night before saying the group was wanted at the next meeting.

Harry hesitated. Something inside him told him to be ready for anything.

He opened the door and walked through, Hrist behind him. The group silenced as they entered. Seconds after the door close, a spell was launched at Hrist. She had no time to react. However, the spell impact on a shield created by Harry, using his magic to protect her. A glare on his face and a fire in his eyes, the air where the spell impact warped, launching the exact same spell back at the caster. The stunning spell slammed into Moody with a ferocity not seen before. The order was surprised. Hrist hadn't even moved before Harry had stepped up to battle.

"What is the meaning of this?!"

"Harry get away from her! That woman is a Death Eater!"

"She's not a-

"It's alright Harry. Sheesh, not even a whole two days and already our cover was blown…"

Harry sighed in resignation. "Looks like you're right. So…do we tell them everything?"

"Might as well. I'd rather get this out of the way."

Harry nodded. "She's not a Death Eater…anymore. Everyone, meet someone you all know and hate…Bellatrix Lestrange."

Nobody knew who fired the first spell. All anyone could see was an array of light racing towards Bellatrix. She resigned herself to her fate…when Harry stepped up again. A literal wall of energy slammed into place around them. Harry sighed and turned to her.

"Sorry. I'd hoped things would go different."

"It's alright…I've done horrible things under that spell. Though my actions weren't my own, I must own up to that I did them."

"I know. It still sucks though."

He noticed Luna and Hermione behind them, outside of the barrier, but not in a location where they could get hurt. Luna was knocking on it, asking to enter. Harry blinked and smiled at the girl, and then opened a small hole for them to slip inside.

"Why weren't you two joining in?"

Luna shook her head. "What point would there be? You're no fool; you must have a reason to trust her. And I trust you."

They looked at Hermione, who sighed. _She seems…different somehow…_

"It's…my fault. I saw a black marking on her arm and reacted before I really gave it any thought…it wasn't until after I told Dumbledore did I really…understand what I had brought…I'm sorry."

"Most brilliant witch of your generation huh?"

Harry smirked. "She has occasional bouts of stupidity, just like the rest of us…" He turned to her and frowned. "Though I don't ever recall you apologizing for doing what you thought was right."

"Yeah well…shite happens."

"Don't remember you cursing either."

"Oh go sod yourself Harry. We've got bigger things to worry about. Like getting those bloody idiots to stop with the light show."

"I have to agree with her Harry. Think you have the energy to stop them?"

"Oh this is nothing. I've set the shield to automatic. It only cost me to set it up in the first place. By circulating the energy that strikes it, any energy that might get through or break the shield, is instead regulated to strengthen it. So basically it's keeping itself up, the longer they attack."

"Oh, Neville's stopped. But Ron is still going I see…"

"Despite what others say, Neville is no idiot. He must have realized nothing was getting through."

"So, how do you plan on shutting them up?"

"Just watch."

He closed his eyes and held out his wand. He channeled a bit of magic to the tip, drawing a rune in the air. At the last second he looked back.

"You might want to cover your eyes."

They did so just as the rune flared with light. The barrier surrounding the four of them glowed with the same light and then exploded outward with a wave of energy. Nothing was damaged…but nobody could channel any magic.

"What did you do?!"

"I overloaded a shield filled with excess energy. By doing so, it released a hyper-charged wave of magic back outward. Anyone touched by it would have their magical channels so filled that casting anything is virtually impossible."

"Why is _she _here?!"

"She gave me a key. A key to undoing something that was done. Once I perfect it…two of yours will return."

Neville looked at him, confused. _Two of yours will return? Wait a minute…_

"My…Parents?"

"Right in one mate. Your parents have been afflicted with molecular instability. It's a little known side effect of being under the Cruciatus. It's a one in ten chance that instead of being driven insane, or killed, instead some part of their very genetic structure will be fragmented. As such, nothing can restore them…save one thing."

"Reversing the process…right Harry? But how?"

He held up his arm. "These. These bracelets, as you've seen, can warp and fragment a target's very molecular structure. Either disrupting it completely, causing it to lose too much stability and be reduced to atoms, or by transforming it into something else. Kind of like advanced Transfiguration, only from the ground up."

"So it's more like Transmutation."

"Err…yeah actually. How'd you figure that Hermione?"

"Oh…just something I read…"

"So why not just trash the bitch now?"

"Because she has information. Knowledge of movements, people, and skills. Plus, by this letter, written entirely in her own blood, she states that there was a powerful compulsion spell placed upon her by Voldemort."

Before anyone could speak Bellatrix took over.

"Ask anyone, I was always a smart witch. I knew that though ideal, Voldemort's plans were destined to fail. Even if he succeeded. A world of just Wizards is, unfortunately, at this time impossible to have, based solely on the fact that interbreeding slowly kills cells, and magic. Unfortunately, I was married off to one of his devout followers. The spell was tied to Sirius' life force…the moment he tripped…the second he fell through that Veil…the spell was lifted. I assure you I spent at least three hours hovering over a toilet after that."

She grabbed a glass of water and took a drink.

"The spell is a rare and powerful Dark spell. It takes one's thoughts, one's emotions, and reverses them. Since it's much like the Imperious curse, and can originally be fought off, it has a secondary portion, an Anchor Point, to which one will connect the spell. As long as that anchor exists, the spell will hold dominance over the will of the victim. However, said spell is tied to the emotions and thoughts of the anchor as well. If the anchor suddenly has a change of heart, shifts perspectives, and follows through with it, the spell will reverse itself, and basically, undo the changes."

Hermione frowned for a moment. "So it's basically an advanced Switching Spell, only for thoughts and emotions…and as long as the anchor point remains the way they are, the spell will switch the victim to it's opposing thoughts…and if the anchor changes, the spell will change the victim's thoughts as well."

"Yes actually. As long as the anchor remains the same, the victim will. Since my original thoughts were knowledge that it would never work, and though an interesting theory, stupid, they were switched to fanatical belief that it was possible, which secured fanatical loyalty to Voldemort. He prefers using the Imperious curse however…I was a…special case."

"Because of your skills and knowledge."

"Yes. You could say I was a pureblood version of Hermione here…while I sympathized in a sense, with the dark lord, I knew it would never work. But…"

"He put that spell on you, and shifted your very way of thought…that's quite a tale."

"Though it doesn't change that it was I who did those things, regardless. I am no Snape; I truly regret my actions and have already begun taking steps to repent for my sins. It pains me more than many of you can imagine that it took the death of my favorite cousin to bring me back to the right way of thought…"

Then her gaze became hard. "But do not be fooled. I do not intend to join your side. My loyalty lies with Harry and Harry alone. Sirius…would have wanted that I believe."

She shook her head.

"Anyway, with this war growing, I believe it would be prudent if I teach the children how to at least defend their minds. Voldemort isn't object to using Imperious on a child and turning them against their friends and family. In fact it was one of his favorite tactics in the first rise."

Molly muttered. "And yours as well."

Bellatrix didn't miss a beat. "I will admit, there is a certain level of satisfaction gained knowing that your hated enemy was crippled by one of their own. Watching them beg and plead for the puppet to stop, seeing them battered, broken, and awaiting death has its own sadistic horrid beauty. What better way to defeat your opponent then by taking their forces, their children, their loved ones, and turning them to your cause? Using their information, their very existence, to decimate your foe? It is why Moody was one of our highest ranked threats. He did not consider himself above using such tactics. He fought fire with fire, throwing a bit of water in as well."

"That's horrible! Killing another is-

"Sometimes needed." This time eyes shot to Harry. "I really did a lot of thinking. We can't win a war through knocking them unconscious. The majority have joined of their own will, promised power, riches, glory, beyond their wildest dreams. They ignore that this is a man who would kill his own followers for failing him, be they blinded so by their greed. It is a horrible thing, to take the life of another, to sever their ties to this world, but it is sometimes required to spare the lives of others."

"Harry my boy, if we begin killing them, are we no better?"

"Yes, we are actually. We would be ending the lives of those who had chosen to follow the path of torturing, controlling and slaying others. Those who had given up their true right to live by dedicating themselves to slaying those who are not of themselves. What separates them from us is they revel in the death and destruction of others, while we mourn that life was lost at all."

"Harry you're just a Child, you can't possibly hope to-

"Silence Coward."

That shut her up.

"You are pathetic. Honestly. You've done nothing but complain, fear, and run. It's people like you that cause the deaths of others. So what if I'm a child? I am a child with the ability to fight, and I choose to. Every child born into this world, every being gifted with magic holds a weapon. CHILDREN, are given dangerous tools of destruction, and are told it is required for them to learn to control their new power. No wonder muggles were so afraid of us. An armed child is still armed. A muggle wouldn't give their child a gun unless they were certain the child knew how to handle it and that only comes with years of practice. Yet we give children wands, objects in which all it takes is a spoken word, a will and a push of power, to make something happen. We tell them they cannot use it outside of school until they reach a certain age, but that does not mean they will listen. Better an armed child learn the rights and wrongs of their new toy, learn from experience, learn from action, than to hide them from the world, shelter them from all unhappiness and pain. For when it comes, we get cases like Voldemort."

He glared at Molly Weasely.

"I've spent five years in this world. And nobody has struck me to be as much of a fearful wreck as you. You want your family to be safe? Then fucking protect them yourself! Teach them how to defend themselves, so they can be safe when you aren't around to save them! But you, you are a fool, a worthless idiot who fears death and loss so greatly you will shove your fears upon your children. You mother them far too much, you have gotten your way for far too long, that you expect it to be followed even in places other than your own home! No longer will that be the case! Either you shape up, or shut up…"

Here he raised his arm and one of his bracelets flared to life.

"Or I end your pathetic life right he-

His head suddenly shot to the side. A confused look appeared in his eyes.

"Hrist…do you…hear that?"

Bellatrix blinked. "No…should I?"

"I swear…it's like someone…yelling…"

Suddenly he saw the world around him shimmer. "Did anyone but me see that?"

"The world…shifted. Something happened."

He looked up as something caught his eye. A glowing rift, only he could see, had opened up in the center of the room's ceiling.

"That looks pretty…"

(BGM: Chrono Cross – Optimism)

"….aaaannnkeeeeEEEEERRRRRRRR**RRRR!!!"**

**CRASH**

A black blur seemed to appear out of nowhere and slammed into the table. The mysterious figure slowly stood up, stopped and then turned around.

"My ass…feels like pins and needles…" Then he noticed something jutting out. "Pins and needles and a **FORK!" **He hopped around trying to pull the offending utensil out of his butt cheek. Finally he succeeded. "God…DAMN! That was worse than when Prongs tricked me into jumping off my broom into the lake…only he covered the lake with ice!"

"…Sirius? Is…is that you?"

The shaggy black haired man turned, wincing.

"Yeah. How're you doing kiddo?"

"But…but you died!"

"Nahh…Bellatrix hit me with a lucky stunner and I kinda fell through some sort of gateway to another dimension. Then some guy showed up, told me I was in the wrong place, did some sort of spell to remove a weird thing from my core, then pushed me through another gateway…bloody bastard didn't say I'd land after falling though."

Silent tears running down her face, Bellatrix replied. "Lucky my arse, you jumped into that stunner and you know it you bloody idiot."

Sirius jumped. "Holy hell! What's she doing here?!" And then he blinked and squinted. "And why does she look ten years younger?"

Slowly, as if unsure if he was seeing this or not, Harry spoke. "That…thing…tied to your core…was a compulsion spell placed by Voldemort on Bellatrix…tied to you. As long as you lived, she'd be a devout follower…"

"Kinda convenient don't you think?"

"I have a Witches Oath from her."

"Huh…well, if you say so. I still owe you for that one Bella. What's the score now?"

"We're tied cousin. Twenty wins and nineteen losses for you, twenty wins and nineteen losses for me."

"And the first to reach Forty has the other be their servant for a week right?"

"You still remember."

"Of course…it was one of the few things that kept me from going bonkers in Azkaban."

"If you wouldn't mind Sirius…I would like to fix the table."

"Huh? Oh sure."

With a flick of his wand, the table Sirius landed on was fixed.

"Though unexpected, let me be the first to officially welcome you back, Sirius Black."

"Good to be back…and this time I don't plan on being cooped up in this bloody place the whole time Dumbledore. Almost got me killed last time."

"Albus…didn't you say you had something to tell us?"

"Ahh, yes, thank you Minerva, I'd nearly forgotten. We have a new member joining us today. At least, we will be…as soon as he gets here."

Suddenly the door slammed open.

"**YEAH IT'S THE JUGGERNAUT BITCH!"**

The action startled the group so much that Ginny fired a pulse of magic from her wand accidentally. The crimson wave of energy dissipated upon a small dagger that seemed to appear out of nowhere. Luna's eyes widened. _Can he see them too? _The black haired dark skinned man laughed.

"Silly bitch, yo weapons cannot harm me. Don't you know who the fuck I am?"

As the young man walked in, Hermione stood. Her action caused everyone to look at her. She stared at the new arrival, a mixture of shock, amazement and longing on her face. Without noticing, her body began moving on its own, towards the newcomer.

(BGM: dot hack GU – Endrance the Best Love)

"It's…you…you're here…this…isn't a trick right? I'm not dreaming am I?" She was close enough to touch his face. "This…is real…right?"

He gave her a half smile and asked. "What is real?"

Without missing a beat, not even noticing herself, caught up in her feelings she responded. "Real is what our minds and bodies perceive as truth. Real is what lay in front of us, around us."

"And yet, real is something that differs from life to life."

"Real is a perception, a truth, and a wish, all as one."

"For real is ever changing, ever shifting. What is real today, may not be real tomorrow…and what is not real tomorrow…"

"May have been real yesterday."

"What is real ebbs and flows like the ever shifting tide."

"Yet real is also stagnant and still, like a lone tree in the center of a field."

"It is not, yet it is, much like the panting on a canvas."

"Forever here, yet forever there. A chaos understood by none."

"Real and Truth are one and the same, yet they differ as well."

"Fakes and Lies may be for now, but can change with the passing of time."

"Who is to say this is real?"

"Yet who dares claim it is not?"

"There is real."

"And there is fake."

"Which is truth?"

"Which is lies?"

And together they spoke.

"_**The answer rest within belief."**_

"My gods…it really is you…"

She wrapped her arms around him, pulling him close to her.

"I see it…I feel it…but it's so hard to believe…"

"Believe it, my little butterfly."

"Is this what you meant? When you said I'd be seeing more of you?"

"Well, not exactly, this is kind of a…unexpected event for me, but it works. It all ties together anyway so it doesn't really matter…in the end, I'm here, and that's what's important."

She looked at him, narrowing her eyes in scrutiny.

"You're the new defense teacher aren't you?"

Genuine surprise shimmered in his eyes. "Well, well, you _have _gotten better."

She shook her head. "No…you just gave away too many clues. You're here now, which you said was earlier than you'd planned, meaning you'd intended to be in close proximity to me at a later time. The only way you'd be able to do that is by coming to Hogwarts…and since nobody mentioned anything about there being an exchange program, it's natural to assume you'd be the Defense teacher."

Ron exclaimed. "Bloody hell Hermione!"

"Looks like I've lost my touch."

She smiled at him. "You'll get it back. I'm sure you'll be making my head hurt with all sorts of unusual and most likely perverted metaphors and puzzles soon enough."

"Probably. That or just making all of you hurt with what I have planned for you."

"Don't even get me started. My hips are still sore from two nights ago."

That got a few raised eyebrows, which rose further with her next statement.

"I keep forgetting you can last longer than I can."

"Practice my dear. You'll get the rhythm down soon enough."

"Not too soon I hope, I've still got a kink in my right leg."

"I'll have to work that out for you."

"You'd better. I'd like to be able to walk after the next time."

"Yeah well, next time I'll be sure to take advantage of your flexibility."

The Twins spat out their drinks and started coughing. Sirius was on the ground laughing. Hermione and Zero looked back up to the rest of the Order, blinking innocently.

"Oh dear…I do believe they've gone and considered the implications of our conversation."

Hermione blinked again, then blushed heavily and smacked Zero hard on the arm. "You bloody wanker you planned that didn't you?!"

"I can't help it if their minds dropped to the gutter." He addressed the rest of the Order. "You dirty minded people, shame on you."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Oh sod off and come sit down will you? You've got a lot to explain to them."

Snape was irritated.

"Albus, you can't be serious. He's not a day out of his teens; he'd be completely useless to URK-

In the blink of an eye, Zero was next to Snape, knife held to his neck.

Everyone blinked, then realized what happened and pulled out their wands.

"Before you all get your knickers in a twist, can anyone honestly say they saw me move?"

A single hand rose.

"Anyone _besides _Luna Lovegood?"

Luna pouted and dropped her arm.

"I didn't think so."

Hermione piped up. "Put your wands away everyone, he's not a threat. And if he was, you wouldn't know it because you'd all be dead anyway."

Moody stared at the girl intently. "And what makes you say that Granger?"

"I've trained with him, I've seen him fight, and I've seen him fool around. None of you, save Luna apparently, saw him move. I don't know what Luna's deal is, but obviously he was moving slow enough to still be tracked. He could attack every single person in this entire room in the span of a second, and none of you would be able to stop him. No, not even you Harry."

"Impossi-

Moody shut up as Zero had appeared in front of him with the knife pointed at his magical eye.

"Wow…I didn't even see him move that time!"

Moody gave a grizzled smile. "You've got balls kid."

"I damn well better. Or else I've got a massive tumor dangling between my legs."

Hermione smacked her forehead with her hand. (Hereby referred to as a facepalm.)

"Not your best Zero."

"Not much to work with Kit."

"If you are done demonstrating, Mister Shinzaki."

"Yeah yeah…don't have a heart attack old man…"

Molly was livid. "You should show more respect to the-

A knife suddenly appeared right in front of her face. Her eyes widened in fear.

"I'd advise you never to speak in my presence again. Every time you open your mouth you prove you are an _IDIOT._ I did not ask to join this group, he asked _ME._ Honestly, I'd much rather watch as your pathetic little Order gets trampled by that wannabe you call a Dark Lord. But then that would make my little butterfly sad, and there's nothing more painful to see than a depressed butterfly."

Hermione gave a brilliant smile at that.

"Wait, Albus, you invited him? He didn't ask to join?"

"As you can see, he is a very skilled warrior. I encountered young mister Shinzaki a few months ago as he easily decimated a group of the Dark Lord's followers without even coming close to getting grazed. In fact, he protected an entire orphanage of muggles on his own, without getting touched. I was going to join him, but the battle was over so quickly I barely even had time to get my wand out. He used no magic at all, just simple martial arts and speeds even with my glasses I couldn't hope to follow. It turns out he was the same man I was to interview for the Defense Against the Dark Arts position, so I invited him to the Order. He has no love for Voldemort, of that I can assure you."

"Freaky snake bastard…"

"At least he's not a pedophile."

"We…don't know that Kit. I mean, look at how long he's been after Potter."

Hermione blinked. "You have a point. Eww."

"Eww indeed."

"Great…that's a mental image I didn't need."

"I think ALL of us could go without the image of a Nude Voldemort."

A series of groans accompanied that statement. Hermione glared at him.

"You did that on purpose."

"Maybe."

* * *

Lots of stuff in this one. Hermione knows Zero, Bellatrix's cover is blown already, Harry gets his point across, and Sirius returns. All in one chapter. Damn I'm good.

Grayphoenix: Yeah sorry…who knows, it's still possible, but unlikely. Glad you like the story though.

D&S Master: Do so. And don't worry, I'll explain them here.

Hunter 1: Haruhi is random. She also doesn't know of her power. However she shows compassion for those who strike her interest. She was worried about Kyon, and unconsciously activated her power to keep him safe. I'm not sure if she knows by now, but she might.

And yes, it was Zelda related.

Alright Quote answering and asking time.

"I shall tear asunder the sisterly bond!" – Lezard Valeth, randomly spawned quote at the end of Valkyrie Profile 2 when he uses Meteor Swarm.

Hrist is the name of one of the three Valkyrie in Valkyrie Profile's 1 and 2. Hrist, Lenneth and Silmeria.

Gungnir is the divine spear used by Odin in Valkyrie Profile. It is one of the Four Sacred Treasures that stabilize the four realms. Lezard takes it and wields it along with his magic in Valkyrie Profile 2.

"I can't wait to bomb some Dodongos." – Link: Zelda CDI game. The shittiest game ever, its scenes have been turned into flash musicals and parodies on You Tube.

Now, if nobody knows where "YEAH! IT"S THE JUGGERNAUT BITCH!" and "Silly bitch, yo weapons cannot harm me, don't you know who the fuck I am?" I'm seriously gonna "hit ya wit ya own PIMP!"


	5. Loss

(BGM: Rurouni Kenshin – Wars of the Last Wolves)

Night had fallen. Everyone was dead asleep…save for one.

"Tomorrow…it will happen tomorrow…hmm…I'd best give him the power to help. It is his battle, therefore I cannot interfere…however…there is one life that needs to be saved…"

Zero Shinzaki, known to others as Shinigami Xenmaru rose from his position on a bed in a room given to him by Sirius Black.

"_You put Molly Weasely in her place. That's not easy to do. Plus, you annoy the hell out of Snape and that's a plus in my book. This house's got plenty of space if you need it. Just pick a room."_

_I thank you Sirius Black. I made the right decision saving you last time and I continue to do so again._

Surrounded by shadows he vanished in a wispy dome of dark energy. He re-appeared in Harry's room. Suddenly Harry's bracelets came to life. The golden ring around Harry's arm began to glow as a series of green shards appeared.

_Ah, can't have that now._

Zero raised his right arm and a similar looking object appeared, his purple to Harry's green. His own bracelet gave a small pulse. The pulse was echoed by Harry's, which in turn silenced itself, the glow fading along with the green shards.

_The Master Bracelet…mine is the Original. Tweaked by myself of course. I wonder if she'd approve of my actions…_

He knelt down next to Harry's left arm.

"**Twice the events of the present occur. Like surfaces change as one. May what happens to that which lay before me happen to all alike it. **_**Repeat Action!"**_

A small glow appeared around Zero's hands. He tapped the golden ring around Harry's wrist with his forefinger, causing the runes upon it to glow.

_Not bad…it's a bit weaker than the Primary Original, but for a copy, made by a kid with no prior knowledge of the maker, those two did a damn good job. Now…for my first gift…I just add this rune here…and tweak that one…and there we go! He's gonna get a real interesting surprise…I'll have to teach him how to master it when I get back…_

He watched as the spell he cast took effect, and the runes he placed on the left bracelet appeared on the right.

_It's done. Alright, now I gotta get going…I'll have just enough time to blast one of them to bits before it happens…_

He became engulfed by shadow again, warping back to 'his' room. _I could warp out…but I don't want to trip any wards. Not exactly sure how the wards on this place work, I know when you're keyed in it doesn't care if you walk in through the front door, but when you port…I think it sends some sort of signal…so I have to do it the normal way. How boring._

Silently, like a shadow, he walked through the halls. He passed through the living room and froze as a voice called to him.

"Going somewhere?"

_Fuck! _"Yeah. I've gotta take care of something."

He felt a pair of arms wrap around him before something soft pressed into his back.

"Leaving me already?"

"You know it's not like that Kit. I've just got something important to do, that's all."

"In the middle of the night?"

"It's not night in Japan."

Hermione frowned. "Stop using logic."

Zero smirked and turned around.

"Oh come on Hermione, that's what you love about me, isn't it?"

"Ugh, you're sounding like Luna now…"

"Oi."

"I know I know, it wasn't an insult to either of you. At least tell me where you're going?"

"Sore wa himitsu desu."

"Secrets again? Fine."

"I promise it'll help. You'll find out in time. And you'll smack yourself for not realizing it sooner."

"I won't tell anyone you suddenly left…as long as you promise me one thing."

"Tell me what it is and I'll see."

"I want you to help me stop being useless."

"You're not-

"I am. I have all this book knowledge but no skill. I can't keep up with Ron Weasely for Merlin's sake. I need help."

"Why not ask Harry?"

"He's got enough on his plate. I'll train with the DA of course, if he continues it, but I want to do some practice on my own…with someone who could beat everyone else. I want your help Zero."

"Why?"

"I don't want to be a burden to him or anyone else anymore. I got horribly whupped back in the DoM. I want to be the one behind the whip."

"Other than rituals that can potentially corrupt your soul I don't know of ways to increase your magical potential…"

She sighed and turned her head, only to feel a strong hand cup her chin and gently turn it back.

"But…there is…one way I can help you use what magic you have to get stronger…"

"How?"

"You'll have to embrace your muggle side."

"What do you mean?"

"I'll explain later, you're just going to have to trust me for now."

Her eyes shimmered with hope. "I will."

"Good." He gave her a quick kiss on her cheek and waltzed out.

"I'll see you when I get back. Ja ne."

**Reverse Rebirth**

**Chapter IV: Third Divergence – A Life Spared**

**(Head Quarters of the Order of the Phoenix)**

"It is good to see you all again. It has been a week with no attacks reported by any faction. Severus, have you anything for us?"

"Not at this time Headmaster. The Dark Lord has been…quiet lately. He has not called any gatherings that I am aware of."

"Tch, that you are aware of? And he is your spy Dumbledore? No wonder Voldemort has been winning so far."

Snape's ire rose, but he stayed silent. However he noted something.

"Where is that man? Shinzaki was it? Why isn't he here?"

"That is something I have been pondering myself."

Hermione fidgeted in her seat. _Dammit Zero! That training better be worth it!_

"I…have heard from him."

Everyone turned to Hermione. "He left…at night…last week. The night of the last meeting. He said he had something important to take care of…something that would help in the long run. He didn't say what it was, or where he was going…but he said it would help."

"Boy must have been a spy from the start!"

Irritated Hermione snapped at Moody.

"Shut it Scarface or I'll give you another for your collection!"

Everyone blinked at her outburst. "Miss Granger…are you feeling well?"

"I'm fine Headmaster…I just can't stand anyone badmouthing Zero…I've known him for a while, and he's one of the most reliable people I've ever met. He only says he'll do something if he feels like doing it. And if he feels like doing it, he gets it done. Wherever he is, he's doing something that will end up helping us. I've spoken with him for months, I know him quite well…he doesn't like Voldemort, and he doesn't like you Headmaster."

"All the more reason to spy girl!"

"Maybe if he's as blind as you people." She turned to Luna. "I must say I'm sorry Luna…after speaking with him for quite a while…it's rather clear why you are the way you are…it makes things so much easier in life."

"So you understand now?"

"I'm…beginning to." She grew silent for a moment, then continued. "He believes in Balance. There must be light, but there must be dark as well. He said he's been around this world, both muggle and magical, and he's seen that the scales are heavily tipped in the side of the Dark. He seeks to correct that balance, because nobody else has the sense to. He also said, and I quote: 'I'd kill the Dark Tosser myself, but the bloody bastard is protected by Prophesy. Damn Clotho's actions are still present even now…' I want to know what that means…and I have the feeling you know Headmaster."

Harry paled slightly. _How does he know? _He shook his head.

"I don't believe I do Miss Granger."

"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches ... Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies ... And the Dark Lord will mark him as equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not ... And either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives."

Dumbledore, and the entire order froze as Harry recited those words. Harry continued.

"Translation: Someone's parents are going to piss off Voldemort by living three times where he intended to kill them. They're going to be born just before the clock turns Midnight on July 31st. Voldemort's going to do something that will leave a mark showing a link of equality between the two, despite their obvious age gap, but the one he marks will end up having something Voldemort doesn't understand. In the end, unless the one marked gives the killing blow to Voldemort, AFTER the marking has taken place, neither of them can die."

He could almost hear the gears in the uninformed's minds turning.

"In short, it's about me. It COULD have been about Neville, but it ended up about me because Voldemort came after me personally, thanks to Peter. The scar links me to him, and supposedly I have some power he doesn't understand, and I'm supposed to off him, or be offed by him. Comforting isn't it?"

A solemn feeling surrounded the group. Even Luna looked downcast.

He blinked. "Hey, hey, what's with the long faces? It's not that bad. At least it gives us something to go by, though if you wanna be upset be pissed at Dumbledore for waiting till Sirius 'died' to tell me about it. All this could have been a lot closer to being older if the old man had just told me the gist of it from the beginning."

Many glares were sent the Headmaster's way after that. Dumbledore sighed sadly, realizing that this recent development could possibly cost them dearly. He was about to speak when suddenly Harry's right arm began glowing fiercely.

(BGM: Brave Fencer Musashi – Giant Ant)

Harry flinched as the blinding light slammed into his eyes. Images flashed through his mind's eye…

"_**Mum! Dad! Look out!"**_

_**An overly obese man and a thin horse like female dropped to the ground, dead, after being just barely touched by a glowing green light. A pudgy boy slammed into one of the robed figures then took off up the stairs, smashing things on his way to impede their progress. People moved to follow, but a tall snake-like man stopped them.**_

"_**Hold…I shall take care of this personally…"**_

The vision ended. The bracelet's glow faded, but remained, faint but present.

"Dudley…"

A single word came from Harry's lips. A name that cause everyone present to sit up straight in their seats.

"Voldemort, he's at Privet Drive!"

Immediately the Order stood. They ran after Harry who had already bolted out the door.

"Harry wait! There's no way you can reach them in time!"

"I can't let him die…at the very least I have to save my cousin!"

Suddenly the bracelet flared to life again. The newly added runes glowing fiercely. Harry was jerked into the air by his arm as a nearly transparent bubble of shimmering air surrounded him. Ripples seemed to waft their way towards the glowing band around Harry's wrist. The very air in front of him seemed to twist and distort.

_That looks like…a black hole?_

Without warning, the bubble burst, and when it did, Harry was rocketed towards the Dursley household.

"BLOODY HELL!"

* * *

Dudley was shuddering. Here he was, hiding in the shadows, saved by a strange brown skinned man with odd silver eyes. Dudley's bracelet began to glow.

"Ahh good…that means it's working."

"Wh-what is?"

"The homing feature I placed on Harry's bracelet. It allows him to warp to the location of its sister bracelets. Thanks to a spell I placed, yours can do the same."

"So Harry is…coming here?"

"Yes…and with him will be reinforcements for our side…but what say we…help with a pincer attack?"

Dudley's fear vanished in an instant. A determined glimmer shone in his eyes. "What do you have in mind?"

**

* * *

**

**(Number 4 Privet Drive)**

Harry appeared in a distortion of air. He dropped to his knees as he saw the Dursley household covered in flames.

"Ahh, Harry Potter…I had a feeling you'd attempt to rescue your relatives."

Harry looked up and immediately stepped back. With Voldemort weren't just Death Eaters…but a bunch of strange, armored lizard like creatures.

"I see you've noticed my new…acquisition. They are called Genma…and are a gift from an old mentor of mine…he has since been disposed of…"

A series of cracks ran through the area as the Order and teens along with Bellatrix appeared.

"Dumbledore…you are too late once again!"

And that's when everything changed.

"**Harken doth the angels call. Searing light rain down from heaven to earth. Rays of purity engulf those who would promote death and annihilation! **_**JUDGMENT!"**_

The world seemed to darken. Massive beams of white energy slammed down upon the ground searing and disintegrating anything they touched. Nearly every single Death Eater was at least nicked in some way.

"What?!"

(BGM: Team Shanghai Alice – Perfect Cherry Blossom: Till When)

"Dudley! Now!"

The thinning boy ran out from a portal of darkness.

"Right!"

A strange ring was around his wrist and began glowing.

"Here's one from Marisa Kirisame! I didn't get to show you this yet Harry!"

A pentagram appeared in front of Dudley's open hand.

"**Border of Spell: **_**MASTER SPARK**_**!"**

Dudley closed his hand into a fist as the ring around his wrist fired a small beam of energy into the pentagram. The symbol then amplified that energy and it erupted out as a massive beam. The beam engulfed and nearly completely eradicated over half the forces Voldemort brought with him.

"My turn."

Zero flickered into place in front of one of the lizard creatures and sliced it clean in two with a katana that appeared from nowhere. He did the same for a few more before simply bouncing around, slamming into them occasionally, slowly gathering them into one place before whipping out a wand and casting a spell.

"Amaterasu!"

A wave of black flame erupt from his wand and washed over the lizard creatures. He vanished again this time grabbing Dudley's free arm and launching him into the air above the group of monsters.

"Can only do this twice...but who cares! _**MASTER SPARK!**_"

Another massive beam erupted from in front of his arm, slamming down upon the group and completely wiping them off the face of the planet.

Voldemort seemed to be unphased by how easily his forces were destroyed. He simply turned to the Order and spoke.

"Pity all your energy is wasted here…there are other places that could better use it."

He gave a horrifying grin and vanished with his Death Eaters through apparition.

Zero landed with Dudley in front of the Order. Dudley turned to Zero. "What was he on about?"

"I don't…" He took one look at Hermione and his eyes widened.

"FUCK!"

He whirled around and was engulfed by shadow again, warping off to another location.

"Where did he go?!"

"I don't know…he took one look at Hermione and-

Hermione gasped in fright. "My parents!"

Eyes widened all around. In moments, everyone vanished from Privet Drive.

* * *

(BGM: Chrono Cross – Tower of Stars)

When everyone arrived, they saw Zero flickering around, savagely slicing through a horde of Lizard men. The house was completely destroyed. Hermione saw red. Spells of all sorts began raining down upon the remaining creatures. Everyone watched as together, Hermione's magic and Zero's swordplay decimated the remaining forces of Voldemort. Hermione dropped to her knees as she realized her parents didn't make it.

Zero held her as she cried. The others mourned the loss of Hermione's parents as Luna and Ginny ran over and pulled her into a hug as well. Zero slowly stalked away, obviously enraged.

"**DEATH!**" He screamed, calling the name of the one who once recruited him. His will, combined with his summons pulled her though dimensions to his side. The scantly clad white haired woman appeared with a swing of her scythe…and falling flat on her face. She rose, confused, looking around until she saw Zero, staring at her, eyes flickering between Silver and Red. The warrior spoke no words, merely pointed at Hermione, who had looked over to him upon his call, and then to her home, which was collapsed.

Death's ghostly white skin paled further. She looked back at Zero who stared at her intently silently commanding her to take action. She flinched and nodded, wanting not to get on the bad side of the warrior so soon after his destruction of Clotho, youngest of the Fates. She rose her weapon, a beautifully deadly scythe, colored blood crimson and two glowing orbs emerged from the rubble. She held the two in her hands for a moment before they shattered to particles, flying towards the heavens. Uncertain she looked back to Zero, who had visibly calmed. She gave a shaky smile and vanished in a wave of darkness.

He shook his head to clear it, schooling his features in place. He knelt next to Hermione, the girl, one among many, confused of the events that just occurred.

"Their souls are in a better place now…safe from this horrid war. Their end was…unexpected, and not supposed to come for some time…I am…truly sorry Hermione…"

She nodded and opened her arms, almost like a child asking for comfort. He complied with her wish, pulling her close as she began sobbing again. After a few moments, she stopped. By then, Harry and the others had slowly made their approach. He pulled her into a hug as well, while Ron awkwardly pat her on the back, solemn. Dudley stayed silent, but his heart went to her, for she too now, was an orphan, like him, like his cousin.

Zero tapped the bushy haired girl on the shoulder. "There is something I must take care of. I will return shortly."

"Promise."

"I swear on my life I will return to you."

"Good."

He turned to the last Potter. "Keep an eye on her. If anything happens, I hold you responsible."

Harry gulped but nodded. Zero turned to Luna, but she preempted him. "And I shall keep an eye on Harold. You may hold me accountable for anything that happens to him."

Zero gave a soft smile. "You're something else Luna. Thank you."

"And I'll watch all three of them!" The fiery redhead piped up. "Ginny…"

"Trust me. Please."

"I will."

He gave Hermione one last tight hug, and then vanished in a wave of shadow. Dumbledore approached the group.

"Let us return to Headquarters…we shall go over the nights events there…"

Hermione wiped her eyes and agreed. "Yes…"

…but all was not to remain as was…

**

* * *

**

**(12 Grimmauld Place: Nightfall)**

Everyone slept. Hermione tossed and turned in her sleep, plagued by nightmares similar to those Harry once endured…however…it was not for long. Unknown to her, as she slept, a sphere of dark energy began creeping around her body until it held her in its grasp. The sphere then vanished, taking with it the young witch.

**(Morning)**

"Harry…where are the girls?"

Dumbledore had come for breakfast, along with a few other members. Tonks and Remus were there as well.

"I…don't know Headmaster…they may not have awoken yet."

"I'll go check." Tonks vacated her seat and went upstairs. A few minutes later she flew back down.

"They're GONE!"

Everyone bolted out of their seats.

"What?"

"All three of them! Hermione, Luna and Ginny aren't in their rooms at all! Not even the bathrooms!"

"Sirius, check the wards."

"Already on it." The man brought out his wand as Bellatrix watched. "According to this…there was a massive distortion of dark energy within their rooms sometime late last night…"

"Vanished…in a portal of darkness? Could it be Voldemort?"

"My baby! Where did she go?!"

"Calm yourself Molly…we shall get to the bottom of this…"

**

* * *

**

**(Somewhere…)**

The three girls lay upon a hard stone floor. They groaned as they began to awaken.

"Wake up ladies…"

A familiar voice called to them. They all cleared their eyes as they saw Zero standing before them, clad in a strange looking cloak.

"…and as an irritating Jester would say…"

They gasped as they looked at where they were.

"_**Welcome to Hell!"**_

* * *

And here's the chapter. Dudley survives this time around, but in exchange, the Grangers die. Zero has kidnapped the girls for something, but what? And how the hell did Dudley get that power?!

Grayphoenix: Mou, you didn't like the quote? I love that shit, those guys are friggin nuts. Juggernaut isn't on the list of favorite X-Men, but the guys that did it are. Personally I like Phoenix/Jean Grey the most…especially the Movie incarnation of her. Always hated Cyclops, but Wolvie aint bad. I actually forgot about the boot to the head. Oh well, I'll put it in again somewhere…hmm…

Lord Bloody Shadow: Link didn't show; see if you can PM it to me if you want. I've seen almost every episode of Haruhi so I know she's got power and with a bit of training, temperament to be a damn good Fate. As for the Quote, it came from Naztradamix's fan-dub of X-Men. It started on You Tube but then Marvel decided to pitch a shit and YT pussied out and took it down, but it remains on other sites.

The movie actually took the line in reference to Naz's dub. I guess whoever was behind the movie found it fuckin hilarious.

D&S Master: Ahh good, you know where it came from then.

Not many references or cameo's in this one. The main one would be Master Spark, and of course the "Welcome to Hell" line. Though that one is a bit hard to guess unless you've encountered that particular location said bit of media originated from. Of course there is one last reference, but it's a bit vague, and the only clue in story you have is "Black Holes." Extra points if you can figure THAT one out.

Now see, I WANT to leave you with a preview of what is to come…but I think I'd rather surprise you all…


	6. Three Women

(BGM: KH II – Vim and Vigor)

They were everywhere, all over the Alley.

Not two days left until the return to Hogwarts, Voldemort had sent his newly acquired minions to Diagon Alley to wreak havoc. Coincidentally, Harry and the Weasleys were going during that day. They had hoped to run into the still missing girls, but no luck. For a month, they searched everywhere, but no trace of them was to be found. And now, they were fighting for their lives against creatures that were neigh impossible to slay.

Colored lights streaked through the air as both Auror and Civilian alike joined in battle against the horrid creatures. Petty things like distrust, race, Hogwarts House and other differences were forgotten as friend and foe alike launched wave after wave of spell upon the materializing creatures. Many lay on the ground wounded and bleeding from the monster's weapons, as their spells did little more than aggravate them.

"Dark," "Light, and "Neutral" spells and curses were launched by those who knew them. Even children joined in the spell firing as second and third years doing last minute shopping took cover and fired potshot stunning and tripping hexes at the creatures. Skilled muggleborn children, knowledged in the ways of muggle science were racked up the most successful strikes as they banished and levitated solid objects at the creatures. Blood covered the ground as cutting, severing and blasting hexes slammed into the monster's hides, dealing some, but not much damage.

They all noted that the creatures would disintegrate upon death, something that was a welcome sight when a random sword wielding lizard would just burst into pieces. Slowly however, they were losing ground. Surprisingly there was very little collateral damage done, just plenty of wounded and a few dead.

Oddly enough, Dudley and Harry had teamed up with Ron and the Twins. Dudley would use his bracelet to warp the gravitational field around them, slowing the monster's approach while the others picked them off with spells. Even Mrs. Weasely joined in; once she saw Ron nearly get his head taken off by a flung club, only saved by Dudley's quick actions, slowing the club enough that Ron could duck in time. Multitudes of household cleaning and straightening spells flew from her wand with surprising effectiveness. The monsters would slip on suddenly soapy ground, falling and having their heads crushed by a flying cast iron pan. But one got close enough to her and knocked her away. At her scream the fighting seemed to stop as a giant creature stomped over to her and raised its club. The spiked weapon would kill the woman on impact, regardless of the monster's size and strength…and her leg was twisted, useless.

And that…was when things changed…

**Reverse Rebirth**

**Chapter V: The Return**

(BGM: S.S.H. – Tales of Phantasia – Fighting of the Spirit)

In a burst of black fire, a cloaked figure appeared and slammed their fist into the creature, somehow sending it flying away into a large group with a single blow.

"You mess with my mother, you mess with me."

The hood fell to show a head of red hair flowing to the ground.

"G-GINNY?!"

Two more cloaked figures appeared. They lowered their hoods to reveal Hermione and Luna.

"And if you mess with her, then you mess with us!"

Ginny tossed off her cloak. The Order group gasped. She wore little more than a black sport's bra, a pair of knee high boots and a very short skirt. She wore a pair of red fingerless gloves with a strange symbol comprised of three triangles connected from the tips of a fourth triangle inside a thin circle. Unknown to anyone but the girls, the symbol was that of Destruction. On the back of her neck was a black tattoo that looked like three comma markings arranged in a circle.

Luna and Hermione threw off their cloaks as well. Luna wore a white battle dress with golden straps on her shoulders ending in a skirt that reached to her knees. Crossed in an X shape in holsters on the small of her back were two daggers. Her boots were a light pink with golden trip around the cuff. Unseen to them currently, there was a black tattoo on her back as well. Hers was positioned between her shoulder-blades along her spinal cord.

Hermione's outfit consisted of a light blue button up shirt with pink sakura petals patterned around it. She too wore a short skirt, but unlike the other two, she wore skin tight blue leggings under it. She had a pair of black sandals on her feet and a katana strapped to her left hip. Hermione too had a marking, but hers was hidden.

"Ginny what are you-

"Save it mother. There's more important things that need to be done! You two ready?"

Hermione gave an uncharacteristic smirk. "This is gonna be fun…"

"Save some for me will you?" Luna asked dreamily.

Everyone gasped as black flames seemed to erupt from Ginny's body. "I dunno…I might have too much of a BLAST!"

With her cry and a thrust of her left arm, a massive sphere of black flame launched from her and slammed into the offending creature that dared attack her mother. The creature roared in agony as it burst into particles. The remaining monsters roared at the three girls and all turned to charge them. Ginny let out her own battle cry as she ran straight for the monsters amidst the Order group's protests. They silenced themselves when the watched her slam a fist into the ground in front of her, creating a massive wall of concrete to rocket into the sky. She leapt into the air and slammed her other fist into it, breaking the rock into multiple pieces. Before the pieces went flying towards the creatures however, she summoned forth a wall of black fire to surround the stone projectiles. Fiery death rained down upon the monsters, their armor unable to shield them from the flames.

A few had broken off and went for Mrs. Weasely again. Hermione suddenly appeared in a flicker of movement and sliced straight through them. She flicked her wrist and her wand launched into her hand. She drew three horizontal lines in the air. They flared green and the Japanese symbol for Wind appeared for a brief moment, before a giant twister of razor sharp green energy erupted in place, engulfing and obliterating some of the monsters.

Luna appeared in the center of a group in a wave of white light. She jabbed two fingers into the side of one creature, turning as it burst to particles to do the same to another's arm. She ducked under a horizontal swing, arcing backward and kicking one in the neck. As she did so she pushed off the ground with her hands and spiraled unleashing a great deal of energy from her body. The energy swirled around her and formed a spinning dome that tore into and eradicated a good chunk of creatures around her.

Landing from her spin she jumped and twisted again, jabbing two more monsters, one in the forehead, and the other in the side of its neck. They too burst to pieces instantly.

"Luna! Move!"

Luna used another monster as a springboard to leap over the swing of an Ogre's spiked club. A voice rang through the area.

"**Ragnarok!"**

Hermione threw her arms towards the ground as the golden sphere of energy above her formed into a gigantic broadsword and then rocketed into the Ogre before exploding in a shower of golden lights. The Ogre was engulfed by the Earth elemental attack and shattered. A good amount of monsters around it were horribly decimated by the attack as well, but not destroyed.

Ginny was tearing into the monsters with her bare hands. Every punch sent a creature flying into other creatures before bursting to pieces. Another Ogre appeared and tried to attack her with its club but she slammed her fist into the sole blunt area and turned it to dust. She then flipped above its head and brought her heel down on it, causing a mighty crunch to be heard as its spine was shattered. Fire danced from her fingertips, black as night and scorched every monster in her path that her fists couldn't reach. A group appeared and surrounded her, but she simply twirled and a spiral of flame engulfed her, searing the lizard's scales horribly. She then slammed her fist into the ground causing wall of black fire to emerge and completely eradicate the monsters.

Eventually the three girls were all back to back as another set of creatures corralled them.

"Well, this is fun."

"Bloody things need to die already!"

"Shall we finish them now?"

The three girls smiled at each other. Unseen to the others, for their backs were together, the tattoos glowed. Hermione's glowed golden yellow, as Luna's glowed white and Ginny's glowed deep violet. Markings stretched slowly, slightly increasing the tattoo's sizes. Hermione positioned her body, spotting the Ogre leading the section she was facing. Her hands glowed a faint yellow.

Luna's body slightly glowed a faint white as she prepared herself.

Ginny's body was surrounded by black flame.

All three of them vanished, Hermione in a flicker of speed, Luna in a bright white flicker, and Ginny in a burst of black flame.

Ginny was the first to appear. She slammed her fist into the ground, calling forth a giant black glyph. The glyph was a giant circle containing three lines reaching to the center where Ginny's fist resided. The three lines were connected to three circles on the edges of the ring.

"**Chains of Promathia!"**

A massive wall of black fire erupted from the glyph. Razor sharp flaming black chains shot from the circles and tore through every creature in the glyph's radius. The chains all gathered and then exploded in a pillar of black fire.

Luna flashed into place. She raised her arms over her head then gracefully slammed them down to her sides. A white glyph on a blue border appeared underneath the monsters surrounding her. A series of glowing white ethereal chains spiraled inward to the center where she floated inches off the ground.

"**Shining Bind!"**

The glyph exploded into a pillar of holy energy, engulfing and eradicating the monsters around her.

Hermione suddenly appeared in front of the Ogre. It blinked as she pivoted her body to the ground slamming her foot into its massive girth. The speed at which she moved, combined with the strength she put into the kick slammed the monster into the air. Flickering again, leapt to the sky, kicking it again and again, knocking it higher. Finally she bounced off the creature and gathered energy to her blade and hands. Two giant broadswords of energy appeared next to her. She hurled the one in her left hand first, and then hurled the one in her right. The left hand sword slammed into the creature's head, and the right into its crotch.

"**Ougi: Odyssey!  
**

Waves of power emanated from her katana, and she rocketed towards the Ogre. She slammed her blade down as a phantasmal image of a much larger blade slammed into its chest along with her slash. The attack slammed it to the ground and the phantom blades detonated as one, destroying the monsters.

Hermione landed gently on her feet as the pillars of light and black flame died down. The markings receeded back into their respective tattoos and the girls grabbed their cloaks, swung them over their shoulders as one, told the Order Group they'd see them back at the Manor and vanished. Luna in a swirl of blue and white particles, Ginny in a small burst of black fire, and Hermione in a ripple of air.

Only one thing could be said, and it was said by all of the Weasleys and Dudley…oh and Harry.

"**BLOODY HELL!"**

* * *

This is short. The fight didn't go exactly how I planned it but good enough. Next chapter is the girls explaining their new abilities, and the return to Hogwarts, where you get to see Zero's teaching skills in action! I think the next chapter will give you a much better respect of Zero's character…

D&S Master: You'll find out next chapter. In this, you see the fruits of their labors. Now those three are on par with Harry…the war might end sooner than they think…

Grayphoenix: WAAAAAY off about the quote. And I might just work boots to the head in the next chapter… I personally liked X3. I agree that turning the all powerful goddess that is the Phoenix into a mental problem was a stupid move…though look at it from their point of view; where the hell would it come from? It's a trilogy of movies, so having it come from space like it did in the comics/cartoon wouldn't work very well.

Here's my take on it. Jean, when she was holding back all that water, tapped into the mind of a long since buried Mutant called the Phoenix. This being fought Apocalypse to a draw, banishing Apocalypse but being sealed in the process. When Jean made that mental plea for power to save those she loved, the Phoenix reawakened and merged with her.

Doesn't that sound much better than the movie version? Though you have to admit, Jean ripping shit to atoms with her mind was Fuckin sweeeeeeeet.


	7. Hogwarts

"Welcome, to another year at Hogwarts!"

The remaining two days had passed quickly. The Order had called a meeting to discuss where the three girls had been the past month. According to them, Zero kidnapped them during the night after Hermione's parents were killed, and they spent the whole month living in a strange Castle. At first, the three of them were taught together.

He told them of the true potential of their magical cores, and taught them how to seek it out. He also had them do specific physical conditioning based on their parameters. When asked what that meant…

"All three of us were taught how to move faster, but Ginny, for example, was taught how to channel her inner energy to summon forth immeasurable strength in the span of a millisecond."

"Morgana's bane that hurt like hell…For at least a week I kept doing it wrong and ripped my muscles to shreds at least twice…"

Molly was horrified. Hell most of the order was as well.

"Oh I'm fine now. Hurt like the dickens then, but I'm perfectly fine now. I've mastered it, so the only chance I have of injuring myself is if I do it too many times too quickly. I think my limit right now is thirty times a minute. But that's only specific to certain parts of my body. I can do it a crapload of times if I keep varying which parts use it when, but say if I constantly used my right arm to channel it. If I do it more than thirty times in sixty seconds with that one arm, I risk tearing my biceps."

"Luna, was taught how to move swiftly and flow like water. He called it the Juuken style. Where Ginny was given power, Luna was given technique."

"By channeling a specific type of magical energy to my hands, I can create a nullifying field. If I were to say…tap Professor Snape's spinal cord, with the proper infusion of energy, "phrased" as a pulse, I could temporarily shut down the connection his brain has to his entire body, or sever it if I so chose."

"Bloody Hell!"

Molly didn't even bother scolding her son, for that was what she was about to say.

"If I apply it to non-vital areas, it creates a powerful feeling of pressure, as if someone slammed 'Hogwarts: A History' into that location. Not only that, but with the application of the pulsing maneuver, a simple tap can create a small wave of force that launches a target in a straight line away from me."

"What Luna didn't say is that she can also manipulate a small field of energy around her and spin, creating a rotating dome that deflects or shreds pretty much anything." Ginny added.

"Yes well…I'm still working on that…"

"Zero said himself, you were almost done."

"Well I still get dizzy afterwards…it really leaves me open."

Dumbledore cleared his throat. "And you, Miss Granger?"

"He had me learn a combination of both…but with most focus going to speed. _His _speed."

"And Alchemy."

"Shh!"

"Alchemy?"

"Not the Alchemy you're thinking of, Headmaster. A different sort. I take the energy around me and mix it with my own to call forth different elemental abilities. With a thought, and a few gestures, I can call forth vines to impale or entangle my opponents, walls of fire to sear them, spears of ice…it depends on my mood really."

"There _IS _a drawback though."

"Yes, thank you Ginny I nearly forgot. My Alchemy is based on four elements. Earth, Water, Fire and Wind. There are…locations in the world, that have specific alignments. If I attempt to use…say a Water elemental attack in a Desert, which would hold the elements of Earth and Fire, I would drain my energy a lot quicker than usual, not to mention it would be nowhere near as effective."

"And if you were to use it in the middle of a blizzard?"

"Twice the power, plus it takes less effort to create it."

"I see."

Molly couldn't help but ask. "Ginny…dear…why...were you covered in that black fire so often?"

Ginny sighed. Luna put a hand on her shoulder, smiled at the redhead, and nodded.

"I…can't say…not all of it…but I will say this…it's because of who I am."

"It's due to her elemental alignments. Hers are Darkness and Fire, Luna's is Light mostly, and mine are the rest."

"Oi sis…what was that tattoo?" One of the Twins piped up. Immediately Molly's eyes narrowed.

"What tattoo?"

Ginny glared at the offending twin, who immediately backed away. She sighed and turned around, showing the mark.

"He called it a Seal. By drawing from our magical core, along with the energy around us, the Seal gains strength. After that, we can activate it to tap into its power. We normally only go half way, though if we activate it the whole way, we become nearly unbeatable…but afterwards our bodies are so taxed by the effort of keeping up with such enhancements, we're almost always immediately knocked out."

Moody whistled. "I could have used one of those…"

Ginny frowned. Hermione sighed and explained. "The problem with them is that if you aren't properly trained…the stress on your body from the first activation can kill you instantly." Gasps all around. Luna spoke next.

"The seals require a specific alignment between one's mind, body and soul. To make sure we could survive, he didn't give them to us until the end of the second week."

"Them? Us? You all have them?"

Luna smiled. She lowered her top just enough so her back could be seen. Just between her shoulder-blades, was a black marking. It looked like a cross with small straight lines pointing towards the center of it at an angle.

Hermione sighed. "I might as well show you mine too…"

Surprising everyone she unbuttoned her shirt. She pulled the two sides apart, exposing the top of her breasts to the room. Just above them lay her own seal. It was comprised of a black dot in the center of four lines that curved in a ninety degree angle in a fan like arrangement. If one looked carefully, it almost looked like a spiral, only angled instead of fluidly curved. She rolled her eyes.

"Yes yes enjoy the view while it lasts."

Dumbledore frowned. "He placed these on your bodies personally?"

Ginny frowned. "Mind out of the gutter Headmaster. He didn't do the designs or the locations. He just did the spell. Our natural alignments did the rest."

"Luna's is the Seal of Heaven, Ginny's is the Seal of Black Flame, and mine is the Seal of Earth."

"How's that work?" Dudley asked.

"He said it was based on our personalities. Luna's mind tends to be in the clouds, and she sees things in a separated point of view from most others."

"Ginny's was created from her fiery temper and her own inner feelings. Hers is the most volatile and dangerous of the known seals, but also it's the most reliable, because though all seals have a level of 'sentience' to them, the Seal of Black Flame is the most focused on Self-Preservation."

"And Hermione's is due to how her mind was based on logic, down to Earth, and constantly seeking knowledge. Her mastery of the elements added to it as well."

"We can thank Lizzie Shinkicker for that…"

"She was…interesting."

"I think she was like a Dark parallel of Luna."

"Y'know Ginny? I thought that too."

"Lizzie Shinkicker?"

"Someone Zero encountered in his travels once. She was a literal 'Child of the Gods' given to a man named Gendo Ikari-Shinkicker, who raised her till she turned 18, in which she became the Court Mage, and then left to Usurp the Prince of Hell."

"That's…quite a story…"

"She was damn good at what she did. A Mistress of the Elements and a very skilled Swordswoman. She taught us all at one point, but because of the way Hermione was focusing, she ended up getting the most tutelage. Which is alright, Zero trained us in the fighting styles we needed to learn anyway."

"But why you three?"

"Ginny, because she has a score to settle with Tom anyway, Myself because of my relationship with Harry, and Hermione…well…"

"To further remove the stick up my arse, as he put it. He had already promised to train me so I wouldn't be a liability anymore, but when Ginny and Luna were pulled along I was surprised. Luna's relationship with Harry would make her a prime target, and Harry can't be everywhere at once…"

"And I wanted some payback for what Tom's Fragment did to me in my First Year…"

"I won't have it! You will not be fighting that thing!"

Completely unphased, Ginny threw her mother's words in her face.

"Oh be quiet you spineless wench. Any one of us could level this entire block in the blink of an eye and you wouldn't even know it happened till your soul woke up in the Realm of the Dead! You disgust me! I'm ashamed to call a coward like _you _my mother! What happened to the woman who'd run outside in a bathrobe to bash Gnomes over the head with a rolling pin when they were making too much noise?! What happened to the woman I used to hear about growing up who'd curse the living snot out of anyone who even as much as looked at her funny?! Were you secretly that pathetic that the betrayal and deaths of my uncles would be enough to reduce you to a worthless pile of flesh that would sooner flee than stand and fight to protect her home?! Ugh! I'm leaving. I can't stand this."

Before anyone could react, a wave of black flame had surrounded Ginny and carried her away.

"Hey Harry…you think I could learn how to do that?"

"One word dudders…Muggle."

"Oh right…bugger."

**Reverse Rebirth**

**Chapter VI: The New Teacher**

The welcoming feast went normally. Zero seemed to give a lackluster wave when he was mentioned, but the girls knew that was just his way when he was bored. After seeing them in action, Dumbledore had decided to place Luna and Ginny into the Sixth Year DADA class. Everyone got a good fill of food and drink and headed off to sleep.

The next day, Zero could not be found at the head table, or anywhere for that matter. Dumbledore however was not fazed. Zero had told the old mage that he had a little surprise in store for his classes first lessons.

**

* * *

**

**(DADA Class: First Years)**

The first years all sat in their seats. Muggleborns were nervously looking around the classroom. They were all wondering where their teacher was…when a loud ringing sound sang through the room.

(BGM: Team Shanghai Alice Imperishable Night – Lunatic Princess)

There was a flash of light. A glowing symbol appeared at the front of the classroom wall. Made of seven triangles, three with tips pointing towards a center point, three with tips pointing outward. The three with their tips pointing inward were connected to the ends of a center upside down triangle. The three pointing outward were at the borders of the center triangle. A large circle ran around the edges of the center triangle.

The symbol burst into particles of glowing white light amongst a chorus of awe from the younglings. The particles swirled around the children, filling their hearts with warmth, instilling confidence in them, and weakening their fears and worries of being away from home. As they watched the swirling particles shift colors and form into glowing rainbow colored butterflies and birds, the prospect of living in a strange new location became less fearful, less intense. The children relaxed, and unknown to them, as they relaxed, their inner magical channels expanded slightly.

This new generation of mages…would be some of the strongest the school has ever turned out, all due to the actions of one man.

The birds and butterflies burst into particles that all gathered towards the front of the room, turning into a single glowing multicolored orb. The orb slowly floated down to the desk, and then flared with light. When the light faded, Zero stood and bowed to a sea of clapping hands and smiling faces.

_This…is the best part of teaching children…_

The brown skinned man smiled at the group. "Welcome younglings, to your first Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson, and with that, Welcome to the world of Magic. By being here today you display that you have the power and will to learn and master the many faces of the power that is "Magic." For those of you with Wizarding blood, it is likely that spellcasting has been done in front of you before, so the novelty is long since worn off. However, those of you who have just learned that such power truly DOES exist, are supposedly behind."

At a small group of weakened smiles he smiled brighter. "This doesn't however mean that those of you who are Muggle born are inferior in any way to those who have been born in magical homes. It just means you can see things in a better light than them, and for those of you who are a mixture of both, you're the best of the best already. Why do I say this? Quite simple. Both worlds live their lives with what they have…but what would happen when you combine an aspect of the two? Both worlds have their ups and downs, their strengths and their weaknesses, but who is to say that combined, they cannot be neigh invincible?!"

That got all of them smiling again. Probably because he had one leg up on his desk and had his chin high with a goofy smile on his face and his fist in the air.

"Now, because I doubt anyone was smart enough to tell you anything else, I'll give all of you a running start. First thing's first. No matter WHAT anyone says your houses don't mean SHIT!" They jumped at the yell.

"The four houses were created as a means to "focus" on specific aspects of people. Originally the four houses were mere extensions of the Founder's will, a way that they could easier deal with those they had to teach, but eventually that original meaning was lost. Gryffindors are Brave and Strong like lions, Slytherins are cunning and ambitious like snakes, Ravenclaws are studious and intelligent like their namesake, and Hufflepuffs are Loyal and Hardworking like the badger. The animals and traits of the house you have been sorted into only identify the STRONGEST traits you currently wield. Just because you are brave doesn't mean you can't be cunning. Just because you are ambitious doesn't mean you cannot be loyal. And just because you'd rather sit back and enjoy a good book doesn't mean you can't dish out the pain in a snowball fight when it gets to crunch time. Your first lesson that I suggest you all take to heart is that your House is merely a reflection of the strongest trait you had at the time of your sorting. Time passes and changes all of us, where you might have been brave over cunning now might mean you later on realize you prefer to wait and take your time and analyze your opponent rather than jump in and attack."

Everyone nodded. Even those who were brought up with specific thoughts of house loyalty in mind were being swayed by the man's words, understanding that realistically, things can change.

"Remember this Kitlings, Hogwarts isn't made of four separate houses, it is made of four houses acting as one! You are not your house! You are yourself, a student of Hogwarts! When someone demands you to tell them what house you're in you stand up and say 'my house doesn't matter! I am a student of Hogwarts herself! All houses are one in the same! Who the Hell do you think I am?!' Well…alright for now you can omit the 'Who the hell do you think I am' part…you're not yet strong enough to go slinging that one around…but under my tutelage you will be! Isn't that right?!"

A few people replied.

"I can't bloody well hear you!"

"_**THAT'S RIGHT!"**_

"Damn straight! Alright, now with that out of the way and…" He looked at his watch. "Roughly twenty minutes of class left, I'm going to teach you something that they should have been teaching students from the beginning. Everyone pull out your wands."

They all did so. "Now, I want you to place them at the end of your desks, as far away from you as possible." Confused they complied. "Wicked. Now, I want you all to sit back, get comfortable, and think of something that calms you." It took a few minutes, but slowly he could hear their breathing steady.

"Very good. Now, stay relaxed, and think of the feeling you got when you first found out you had magic. The feeling you had when you used your power before you understood what it was. Be it joy, anger, sorrow, anything. Focus on that feeling."

Like before, it was slow…but he could sense it. One by one, the children were tapping into their cores. While they were doing this, he was levitating a series of wooden planks in the air.

"Alright, I want you to focus on that, then on the count of three grab your wands bring grab that feeling as tightly as you can and throw all the energy you can into your wand at the wood floating in front of you. Alright? One…Two…THREE!"

It was amazing. To someone like him who could see auras, it looked like a beautiful field of rainbow colors washed over the children as they grabbed their wands, screamed their lungs out and each fired a powerful wave of energy. The sheer force of the power contained in these children not only shattered every one of the planks, but all merged together and made a massive dent in the wall.

Their auras relaxed and faded as the children panted, some with tears in their eyes, others with angry scowls slowly fading. But one thing gripped them, the fact that they had all but destroyed the wall. Fear gripped their hearts until a single sound broke them free.

Zero was on the ground laughing.

"Holy bloody fucking hell! That was BRILLIANT! You guys fucking ROCK! Ten points to each of you for whatever house you're in and a piece of candy or drink of your choice. Write it down before you leave and I'll get it to you by dinner." They all smiled.

"Alright, we've got three minutes left, so we're basically done. Write down those requests but keep an ear open. Some of you have had either Charms or Transfiguration before this. In those classes respectively you learn random supplemental spells and how to change one thing into another. For those of you who have played Video Games like Final Fantasy, think of Charms like the support magic of White and Time mages and Transfiguration as transformation spells like Toad, Mini, and Frog. DADA would be your "Black Magic." Magic that lies in blowing shit up and decimating your opponents. I'll tell you this, no matter what anyone says, "Dark Magic" doesn't exist. Magic is Magic, its energy like electricity or fire, or wind powering a windmill, or water raging through a river. There are spells that destroy, there are spells that heal, there are spells that do nothing more than turn people different colors, either way it's all Magic. What matters is Intent. Intent is your Will, your mind, your wants. People are going to tell you that even with Magic, some things are impossible. That isn't true. All it takes is Will, and Power."

They absorbed it like sponges.

"I'll tell you your homework, and before you groan, don't worry, it's not something that can be graded, it's more of a personal thing. Find something worth fighting for. Be it friends, be it family, be it power itself, be it material or metaphysical. Find something you cherish, hold on to it, and protect it. Base your lives around protecting the things you care about and you'll be able to do anything you set your minds to. You've all got the potential, all that's left is to train it, and watch it grow. Here's a tip. In your other spellcasting classes, try replicating that feeling you had when you blasted those planks to hell. Focus on the feeling of your magic coursing through your body. Remember, your wand is a tool. Wands were originally made to assist new mages in the art of molding magic, but now they have become crutches. While you're here, I'll teach you not to need those things. You'll still use them, but if you lose it, or it breaks, you won't need it after I'm done with you. And remember. Have fun, experiment, break a few rules if you have to, but above all else: Be yourself. Even if someone doesn't seem to like you for who you are now, stay as yourself, because sooner or later, someone will come along that thinks you're Fuckin awesome."

That erased all doubt in their hearts…and unknown to him, steeled their hearts from the pressure of their elders. The class bell rang.

"Before you guys go, one more thing. Your heads of houses are your guides. As are your elders, but if either of them turn out to not have the information you seek, you can come to me. I won't hold anything back, good or bad. I might take a rain check on answering certain questions, but I promise you this…you WILL be answered. I'm always around somewhere if you need anything or just want someone to vent to alright? You're in a new location probably away from your family for the first time. People are going to expect you to suck it up and get to your studies, but I know that it takes time. If you need it, just let me know and I'll give you that time. And if you desperately need me, seek out either Gryffindor's Hermione Granger or Ginny Weasely, or Ravenclaw's Luna Lovegood. They know how to get in touch with me no matter where I am. Now go on Kitlings, get outta here."

Among a chorus of goodbyes he watched as his little spell took hold.

_These kids…until Snake boy is offed they'll be at risk from a bunch of things…it's not much…but hopefully it'll keep them alive…_

**

* * *

**

**(DADA Class: Sixth Years)**

After a bit of banter between the two new additions to the class and some of the other Sixth Years, the class all entered the room. They noted the lack of desks…or much else. Draco Malfoy couldn't help but speculate.

"The bloody hell is going on here?"

"Luna."

Ginny's voice, serious and tight, shut everyone up.

"I've already started…but…I don't see anything."

"Well of course you-

"Luna can see "Death" Malfoy."

"What are you-…wait…you're bloody fucking serious?! She has _those _eyes?!"

Ron paled as Harry blinked.

"Can someone explain what you're talking about?"

"Bloody Hell Potter…you're dating the girl and you don't even know? Loon-…Lovegood can see the lines of life and death. It's a rare and reportedly dark power that allows the seer to destroy basically ANYTHING they choose…"

"Really?"

"Wait…there's…GET DOWN!"

Immediately the group dropped to the ground as a massive sphere of black slammed into the wall behind them.

(BGM: Crisis Core Final Fantasy VII – Encounter)

"Move!"

A bright red light shined above them, and then lances of red rained down upon the massive group. The DA members threw up their wands and incanted shield spells. The projectiles deflected to the ground around them, hitting some of their classmates. Immediately those hit stopped moving.

"Left!"

Malfoy, Parkinson, and the DA all launched spells in the direction Luna indicated. Their spells seemed to be absorbed into a strange rift and vanished.

"Wait a minute…"

"SCATTER!"

Without thinking Harry grabbed Draco's arm and yanked him to the side as a beam of red sliced through where the blonde was once standing. He stared at Harry in disbelief for a moment before his own senses flared to life. Before it registered that this was _Harry Potter _he was helping, he had slammed his fist into the boy's chest. The movement made the brunette stumble backwards, narrowly evading a crescent shaped blue wave.

Colored lights flew from nearly every direction. Slowly their numbers dwindled until it was just the three girls, Harry and Draco left. They all stood with their backs to each other. Hermione tilted her head back.

"Harry, keep Malfoy safe. We'll take this one."

The other two girls nodded. As soon as a beam of light rocketed out from the far corner of the room, the group scattered. Harry focused on defense, summoning a transparent hexagonal barrier around him and Malfoy. Ginny raced two meters to the left of where the light shot from and slammed her foot into the ground, creating a giant chunk of stone.

Those hit by the lights started waking, and they watched as the Redhead yelled out as she punched a giant rock and sent it flying into a wall. They all saw a black blur fly from where the rock impacted. Hermione slammed her palms on the ground. There was a soft green glow and then a series of thorned roots rocketed from the stone and crashed into another wall. The blur became a bit clearer as it seemed to flow around the roots, which then faded. The blur was suddenly impacted by a glowing foot belonging to Luna. Her Housemates' eyes widened as they saw the fierce glow in her eyes. Her hair swaying from her sudden movement, her leg being held by the brown skinned man.

Harry's eyes trailed up from where Zero's hand caught Luna's leg, traveling up to her toned calves up to where her leg seemed to fade into her skirt. He couldn't help but watch, enthralled as the smaller blonde used her founding leg to hop and kick Zero in the side of the head, pushing him away and forcing him to release her into a small spiral. She landed on her hands and flipped her body around to evade the bolt of light that emitted from the teacher's wand, spinning herself to thrust her palm at his chest, only for him to lightly swing his right hand at hers to deflect it to the side of him as he twisted his body and slammed his elbow in her face. He quickly ducked to avoid an aerial spinning kick from Ginny, and countered by slamming a cupped fist into her pelvis, pushing her into the air a bit, and then ducking his body while pivoting on his right leg to smash the back of his right heel into her face and knock her body into the ground which actually _cracked _upon impact. The men winced as they realized that if she was a guy, her testicles would have been _destroyed._

Suddenly, another black blur slammed into Zero. For a brief second they all saw bookworm Hermione Granger, her leg over Zero's head, held between his arms. Then they only saw to flickers slamming into each other, becoming Zero and Hermione for a brief second, before vanishing again. When they did show, everyone saw an intricate dance of death. Zero's hand between Hermione's crossed arms, Hermione's left leg being blocked by Zero's right arm, their fists meeting each other, Zero's right leg underneath Hermione's arced body, Hermione's fist in the ground right next to Zero, and finally, Hermione leaping at Zero only to be flipped over and pinned to the ground.

The two of them were panting. Zero's hair was dangling over Hermione's face while her own hair was matted to her forehead. Her eyes shimmered brightly.

"_**You have no idea how much I want you right now."**_

"_**Can't…class to teach."**_

"_**Fuck."**_

He got up and pulled her with him. Luna and Ginny were already healing themselves.

"Alright you lot get the hell up."

The other students slowly rose.

"That was fucking pathetic! If I was a Death Eater the lot of you save for these five would have been wiped off the planet. Those of you who managed _not _to get hit in the first thirty seconds, you're a slight less pathetic. This is war people, you're in Sixth year, you should know how to do more than fling a few flimsy spells. I should have seen shit blowing up, shit getting crushed, fire flying, water flying, PIGS FLYING…ANYTHING! Death Eaters don't care who you are or where you come from! They'll kidnap you, they'll torture you, they'll torture your family, they'll rape your little brothers and sisters while torturing them, they'll cut your father's dick off and shove it down your mother's throat while they fire bludgeoning spells up her cunt, all while wanking off to the sight!"

That made even the Death Eater's children sick.

"Voldemort's a bloody tyrant who's jacked up on power and got no conscience, you really think his followers are gonna throw stunning spells and tripping hexes?! NO! They're gonna throw killing curses, blasting hexes, bludgeoning spells, cutting spells. They're gonna explode, burn, slice, blast, break and kill their way to their goal! And you're nothing more than an insignificant little speck on their way, a smudge of dog shite on their trainers! Your Aurors can't do SHIT because of your fucked up incompetent Ministry, your civilians can't do SHIT because they're too fucking lazy and running scared! NEWSFLASH PEOPLE! Voldemort's got maybe, two thousand followers MAX. **YOU'VE GOT ENTIRE FUCKING CITIES WORTH OF PEOPLE! **Even if a fourth of your forces are killed taking all those fuckers down, THE FUCKERS WILL STAY DOWN!"

Ginny, Luna and Hermione all had stoic, steeled faces. The rest…they were practically pissing themselves.

"You call yourselves Mages?! _**WAKE THE FUCK UP!**_" He slammed his fist into the ground, causing a massive shockwave to bowl over the group and slam them into the floor.

"Now tell me, are you gonna sit back and watch while your siblings are tortured and raped?"

A chorus of weak no's.

"I can't hear you."

The no's got louder.

"Louder you bloody sods!"

They were practically screaming now.

"**LOUDER!"**

"_**HELL FUCKING NO!"**_

"DAMN RIGHT! That's what I like to hear! Sit your asses down! It's time for your first lesson on how to beat them before they beat you!"

He passed the rest of the time explaining what Magic truly is. A powerful well of energy that all living beings can access, just that some naturally have greater access than others. That is where you have Mages. Muggles are those who haven't been naturally selected to access this power, but they can through sheer force of will and proper training. When questioned on this Zero provided an example.

"There have been Muggle Martial Artists who have been able to center their minds and access their inner magical cores by sheer force of training and meditation. These people could punch through solid stone, they could lift heavy objects without strain, and they could move faster than you could blink. Muggles tap into this power in moments of need, ripping entire doors off their hinges to save those they care about. And I mean people who haven't trained at all. Anyone can tap into it, it just takes practice. Wizards are those who have a natural affinity for it through unintentional training by way of stressful situations."

Then he asked if anyone knew what the elements were.

"Earth, Water, Fire, Wind, Lightning and…Steel?"

"In some faiths, you'd be right. The answer is Earth, Fire, Wind, Water, Darkness and Light. They are all linked in some way. Darkness and Light are obvious, but the other four, not so. Water can douse fire, but fire can evaporate water. Wind constantly moves water, so Water is actually weakest to wind. Earth can block wind, but over time, earth can be carved by wind. Water can erode Earth just like Earth can stop water. Earth can smother fire, but a hot enough flame can melt rock. Fire grows stronger and wilder through wind, but if applied properly, wind, or rather the lack of oxygen can snuff out flame."

It made sense to them actually.

"Now here's the kicker. Elements can be combined."

A Slytherin asked. "How?"

"Ten points to Slytherin for having the balls to question me. The answer lies in the question of the remaining elements, Ice, Magma, Nature and Lightning. Ice is created by mixing Wind and Water. Super cooled air freezes the water particles and turns it into ice. Earth can smash ice, and Fire can melt it, but risks getting doused by the water. Magma is made through Earth and Fire. Extreme heat can melt rock into a liquid state, thus, Lava or Magma, depending on where it is, is born. Wind however can cool magma back into a solid state, which creates Earth again. Nature is Earth and Water, though it's held under the Scion of Wind. Certain particles and minerals in Earth can give way to plants when mixed with Water. Fire can beat Nature, but Nature can Absorb Water, and break through Earth. Depending on the form it takes, Nature is at a stalemate with Wind."

That had everyone interested.

"Lightning…is the most confusing. It's heavily speculated, meaning nobody really knows but they're guessing, that lightning is the result of Earth, Wind and Fire mixing. Lightning produces Heat, which is under the Scion of Flame. It comes from the heavens for the most part, which is where the Wind element would come in, and it strikes the Earth, which is where the Earth portion comes in. Lightning would be the one element that is most difficult to defeat, being beaten only barely by Earth, and utterly by Darkness. Now, here's the next question, what are Darkness and Light made of?"

Nobody could answer.

"I'm not surprised. It took me a while to figure it out. The answer is Water and Earth, then Fire and Wind respectively."

Malfoy blurted out. "How?"

"Think about it. Darkness is the absence of Light right? With Earth, you can summon forth a cage of rock, blocking out all light but from within. With Water, the deeper you go, away from the surface, the less light there is until you're in pitch black."

"That…makes sense."

"As with Light, Fire creates light, and Wind can blow things away until they reach the surface to FIND light. Not to mention Wind enhances Fire in most respects, so you get an even BRIGHTER flame."

"That makes sense too!"

He looked at his watch. "Alright we've got only a couple minutes left, so…Homework!" Groans. "Oh shut up you'll actually get use out of this. Your homework is to find a spell that summons forth one of the elements I mentioned before. And yes, the four Sub-Elements count as well."

There were mutters of relief and appreciation at that.

"See? I know how assholic homework is. This shit's useful. I'll have you demonstrate it next class. It doesn't matter if you succeed or not, though you'll get more points for pulling it off."

The bell rung. "Alright now get the FUCK outta my classroom!"

* * *

And so ends the beginning of the Hogwarts Arc. I don't know when I'll update next so instead of Trivia, I'll just tell you where my shit came from.

Grayphoenix: indeed it is, and indeed I did. I'm glad you like how she turned out.

D&S Master: damn right they did.

Alright…lets see…for this chapter it was Golden Sun, Naruto, Tales of the Abyss (the elemental conversions), my own head, the Princess Maker 2 Let's Play Thread, aaaaaand

TENGEN TOPPA GURREN LAGANN!!!!

Seriously, watch that anime. If you don't you automatically fail at life. You fail marginally less so if you watch that but don't read LP's.


	8. Marcellus

Four months had passed since the beginning of Hogwarts. Within that time events progressed as they usually do at the school of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Under Zero's tutelage the First and Second Years quickly gained a competent grasp of the new world they had entered, along with the inner workings of controlling and manipulating their newfound power. The third and fourth years were taught minor control techniques to better refine their skills, and the fifth years and on were taught how to use what had already been engraved in their minds as the proper method of casting to perform more effective spells.

Of course, then there was Quidditch. The second official match of the year was to be played the next day…however…as Zero's First Years were letting out…a single girl remained behind.

"Excuse me…Professor Zero?"

"Wha-huh? Oh…hey kit. You need something, Maya?"

"Ahh…well…" with her cheeks flushed she thrust out her arms, in her hands rested a small pin. "P-Please wear this tomorrow at the match."

"A pin? I'm not much for rules…but last I checked I couldn't show favoritism…even in Quidditch matches."

"No, no it wouldn't be favor…umm…"

"Favoritism." "Yeah that! It wouldn't be that, see, it only shows off your favorite color. If you tap it with your wand it'll show your two favorites, so you can show the colors for both teams! A group of my friends…we came up with the idea…this way…teachers won't really be showing…uhh…"

"Oh I get it. Nice loophole there kit. Alright, as a favor to you, I'll wear it tomorrow, ok?"

She seemed to be relived. "Thank you!"

And then she raced off.

_Kinda pushy ne? Wonder why she wanted me to wear this thing so badly…I didn't sense any malicious intent…just fear…and…worry? Towards me? Maybe she's setting me up for a trap…ehh, I dunno, I'll wear it anyway, can't hurt right?_

**Reverse Rebirth**

**Chapter VII: Reveal**

Maya Schrodinger, first year student at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, sighed in relief as she lay on her bed that evening. For the past two months, she had been seeing nightly visions of her Defense teacher being assaulted by an unknown female. But what always worried her was what happened in the end. She didn't see anything beyond him looking surprised, and then in pain.

Fearing for the worst, she'd asked the other students for help…subtly. She knew she couldn't let Zero know about what was going to happen, lest something change completely and become even worse. Over the past months, after gathering a suitable group, they'd come up with an idea. A few of them were already working on charming a group of pins for the upcoming Quidditch match for the teachers. They remembered how Zero had described the different types of magic to them, and recalled that most importantly, intent was what was required.

"_You can say the words to the Killing Curse, while filling your mind with the words and intent of a stunning spell. The words are only there to help your mind focus the energy and call upon the effect you're after."_

They could focus their magic into a specific pin, and fill it with healing energy, so whatever happened to him, would be reversed almost instantly.

It took them a while, but with the fear of loosing their favorite teacher, the only one who honestly seemed to be able to get information into their heads, they pulled through.

When asked early on how she was so certain, Maya explained that all her life she had been seeing bits and pieces of people's futures. It would come and go as it pleased, circling mostly around people she knew, but sometimes involving someone she was still yet to meet. All she knew is that when she told someone it either didn't come true, or would have an aftereffect she didn't predict. She learned to fear her visions…but also learned how to react to them. Since she wasn't involved in the vision at all, but was the one having it, she could change what was to come, be it make it so the vision would never happen, or just slightly influence what the outcome would be.

She preferred influencing the outcome, because if she stopped one from happening entirely…well…sometimes bad things had happened.

So now she lay there, slowly drifting off, hopes and wishes out to the God turned Defense teacher (not that she knew what he truly was). _Please…let this work…_

* * *

(BGM: Final Fantasy X – Blitz Off!)

"Welcome to today's match! I'm your commentator today, Professor Zero, because whoever was supposed to do it has a sore throat and couldn't be arsed to take a potion for it."

In the background McGonagall smacked her forehead.

"Honestly though, you can't blame the poor sod, those things taste like a donkey's rectum."

"Professor Zero!"

"What? It's true!"

In a move that surprised everyone Minerva smirked and retorted.

"I suppose I should concede to the one with more experience in the field."

"Damn right. Wait…hey!"

The stands roared with laughter as the two teams reached the center of the pitch.

"And we've got captains Weasely and wait…is this right? Oh no it's Malfoy, not Ferretbasket."

Again, the stands roared with laughter. Draco Malfoy glared at Ronald Weasely, who shrugged his shoulders.

"Wasn't me mate. I hate your guts but you helped Harry out in the first class, you've still got a month to go before I go back to helping my brothers prank the living snot out of your house."

"I'll keep that in mind then."

The two captains shook hands and returned to their positions.

"Dammit you two! Someone was supposed to get slugged! You cost me twelve galleons! Graaah! Gah, anyway. Standard fare, Gryffindor versus Slytherin, first to catch the snitch wins- ok is there a _reason _people do this job? What? They get paid _how much?_ Shiiiiiiiit…I'm in the wrong profession…oh hey the ball's in the air…and now it's been grabbed by Slytherin…and man that sounded wrong."

* * *

Up in the stands, Maya sat with her friends. Rather than watching the game however, she kept her eyes locked on Zero. She had someone recording the match for her anyway, so it didn't really matter.

_The vision only showed that it happened on the Pitch…and that we were all around. It didn't show when…so maybe everything will be alright…no…it won't. I feel it…that feeling of dread…it's going to happen today…I just hope our idea worked…_

"No, no, no. That is NOT how you do a Jecht Shot! You kick the ball, bounce it off someone's face, punch it back into someone _else's _face, and then you jump in the air, spin about a bajillion times and then send that thing home! All you did was kick it off the guy's head! Sure you made a score but come on! Anyone could pull that off!"

Off on the opposite side of Maya sat Hermione and Luna.

"She's staring right at him. I don't like it."

"Hermione relax. Maybe she's just got a crush, he _is _rather good looking."

"Hmph…her eyes haven't left him all match…and she's not showing any signs of a crush…" _Dammit I hate doing this but…_**Ginny, can you hear me?**

_A little blonde haired girl looking straight at Zero and nowhere else?_

The redhead dodged a flying black mass of pain by means of a quick roll of her broom. While keeping the quaffle under her left arm, she maneuvered the broom in a wide arc past the stands. She spotted the girl in question, Maya, doing exactly as Hermione warned her.

_Huh…that _is _strange…_

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw one of the Slytherin chasers flying straight at her. Getting an idea, and wanting to show off just how proper training could be used even in a recreational setting, she flew right at the offending chaser. She dropped altitude slightly, throwing the ball into the air before swinging her legs up from the broom and flipping on it so she was riding it like a surf-board.

_I fuck this up, I'm gonna be in a _lot _of pain…I get this right…huh…I dunno what happens if I get this right…_

She sprung off the broom and into the air. _Can't punt it off someone…but I can…_

She used the tip of the incoming chaser's broom as a second spring board and twisted herself around. Time seemed to slow as she approached the ball and landed a swift bicycle kick on it, sending it rocketing towards the center post. The force of the kick made the ball neigh untraceable, so the opposing keeper couldn't catch it anywhere _near _in time.

Ginny dropped a few feet before twisting again, flipping over and landing on her broom. _Ow…my ass…_

"WOOOOOORRRD! Did you _see that?!_ Holy bloody crap man! Now THAT is a prime example of a Sphere Shot! Damn that must have been a friggin FIFTY! Gryffindor Scores!"

Now it was tied. While he blocked many a shot, Ronald Weasely was still but one person, and still green at that. With the scores caught up, the Snitch decided to show up.

"OI! Who the frig tossed their watch in the-oh wait that's the Snitch isn't it?"

Blinking, Harry and Draco took off from their current positions and towards the Snitch…which was hovering in the direct center of the field.

That's when Zero's left hand began to glow.

"Mister Shinzaki…why is your hand glowing?"

"Chu talkin' bout woma-oh hey it is…"

His mind's eye flared to life…

_**A beam of light piercing the heavens.**_

_**Pillar of white engulfing the two Seekers.**_

_**Both bodies turned to ashes as a woman stood from the point of impact.**_

He blinked and snapped out of his trance.

"SEEKERS! **MOVE!"**

Knowing that particular tone of voice, both Harry and Draco flinched and banked in opposite directions…just as a beam of white light slammed into the ground…right where they were about to be.

(End Song.)

* * *

The light and dust cleared. From the point of impact stood a black haired figure. Zero was on his feet, staring unblinkingly at the person. The being lifted their head, eyes locking on Zero's position…before they vanished without a trace.

Zero stepped back on reflex as a form materialized in front of him. In the few moments before it moved again, Zero saw a head of long black hair, a tight black body suit over an obviously female figure, and piercing violet eyes that screamed rage.

_Hey…isn't that-_

(BGM: Disturbed – Just Stop)

"I found you…Murderer."

"Huh?"

Zero blinked as in an instant, the girl had grabbed him by the shirt and literally hurled him out of the commentator's box and towards the pitch.

"Oh FUCK!"

He rocketed towards the ground before flipping over and slamming into it feet first, skidding to a stop.

The girl flickered into view at the foot of the stairs leading to the stands.

"You'll pay for what you've done you bastard!"

_What I've done? Wait…she can't mean…_

"Shouldn't you be dead? I thought everyone was killed!"

A fist materializing in his face was his answer. He pulled back, narrowly evading having a lump for a nose, before sweeping his right arm out, deflecting a side kick from his assailant.

"You'd like that wouldn't you?! No trace of your actions left! But I lived, I lived and trained…and now I'll avenge my mother!"

_Mother?_

Catching her arm as she swung her fist at him again, he struck. Two fingers flew towards her chest, covered in energy. He hoped to end it in one strike, bind her, and figure out what the hell she was on about…however the girl was good. She caught his hand and retaliated with a head-butt that he didn't expect.

_FUCK ! The hell is her skull made out of? Titanium?_

Both were reeling from the surprise attack, but Zero recovered first. _Can't just pulverize her…gotta keep it even…_

Swinging his left leg he hoped to trip her up, but she hopped over it and kicked out towards his head, which was blocked by his left arm as he countered with an open handed strike to her midsection, only to be blocked by _her _left arm. They sprung apart and the girl's hands blurred.

_Seals? Wait, I know that sequence!_

Her right hand pointed to the ground as her left gripped her arm. Her right hand was covered in crackling energy as a whistling noise rang through the air.

"**Raikiri!" **(Lightning Edge)

In a flash she leapt at Zero, thrusting her arm out towards his chest. He bent back, the girl flying over him, shock on her face, and lashed his right foot up. He connected with her stomach, knocking the wind out of her and breaking her concentration, which ended her attack. He pushed harder, launching her into the air, before pushing off the ground and lashing off with his other foot, catching her on the chin and kicking her a fair distance away.

He stood, noting that the whole of Hogwarts had descended to watch.

"You're Mikoto aren't you? _Her _daughter…Au-

"DO NOT SPEAK HER NAME!" The girl screamed. "To have the name of my mother defiled by a monster like yourself…UNFORGIVABLE!"

She charged at him, thrusting her hand to the side, calling forth a crackling sphere of energy. The sphere turned into a lance-at this moment Zero began his own sequence of movements-and then rocketing towards the dark skinned professor. The first lance seemed to summon more, and a rain of energy lances streamed towards him.

"**Doton: Doryuuheki!" (**Earth Element: Earth Barrier)

Slamming his glowing right palm into the ground, a massive wall of rock raised into place, just in time to block the attack. After the hail stopped, the wall seemed to blow itself open, surrounding Zero with floating chunks of rock.

_There's no other way…I can't go too easy on her or she'll land a _really _good hit…I've got to keep her on her toes._

Flinging his arms out, the massive boulders flew towards the shocked girl. She quickly steeled herself and began evading. Flickering in and out of view, she hopped around the boulders while making her way towards Zero. Once she had them cleared, she appeared in the air with her leg pulled back. She swung it forward, only to be blocked by Zero, who countered with a glowing fist to her chest as he pulled her leg towards him. The glow seemed to intensify. A black symbol appeared on the back of his hand.

"**Reppashou!"**

A small but powerful pulse of energy ripped through the raven haired girl and she was flung away from Zero. She flipped in mid-air and lashed her hand out, launching a torrent of white lightning at him. He countered with his own torrent of black lightning. The two charges seemed to struggle for a moment before the links began glowing. Both combatant's eyes widened as the meeting point between their attacks seemed to flare with energy before the current was ripped apart at the seams and they were both flung backward.

"Baka onna! You don't know the whole friggin story!"

"I don't _need _to know any more than you killed my mother!"

"She WASN'T your mother!"

"She might as well HAVE BEEN!"

She flung her arms to the side, her hair fanning out behind her as a golden glow surrounded her body. Knowing what she was doing, Zero did the same.

* * *

Ginny, who had been watching with the rest of them blinked and commented.

"Hey…that looks kinda familiar…"

Both combatants raised their arms, the glow flowing around them and into the air, taking the form of a giant glowing broadsword.

"That's-

"**RAGNAROK!"**

They flung their arms downward, the two swords lunging at their targets. Realizing what the other said, they quickly jumped away as the glowing swords impacted on the ground, kicking up a big explosion.

As the dust cleared, they saw the two struggling against each other, glowing swords in hand.

"Dammit Mikoto I didn't mean to!"

"Bull shit! Why the FUCK did you do it then?!"

"I wasn't myself!"

"BULL SHIT!"

The two sprung apart, only to flicker out of view and clash again moments later. They kept vanishing from view, only to momentarily re-appear as blurs whenever they clashed blades. All around the center of the pitch, flashes of light appeared as words rang into their ears.

"The power of Destruction ran through my veins! I couldn't stop myself!"

"Wiped out an entire planet! You weren't satisfied with just my mother!"

"Destruction is an unstable force! Without a balance it goes haywire!"

"THEN WHY MY MOTHER?!"

"BECAUSE I LOVED HER DAMMIT!"

They re-appeared, blades flashing. Mikoto twisted into an overhead swing which was met by an underhand strike. The two bounced off each other and met from opposite directions. Constantly they clashed, swinging up and down, blade only meeting blade…

Unknown to them, a dark force gathered nearby…an armored being stepped out of a black opening…

They brought their blades down on the other, and then they shattered. The backlash from the exploding blades knocked them back, only for both to get back up and charge the other…only this time, Zero did something unexpected…He grabbed her and spun around flinging her to the ground…

And then was met with a sword through the chest.

(End Song)

* * *

The school stared in horror. (Snape excluded, though he was rather surprised.) The armored creature pulled its blade out of Zero's chest, a spray of blood raining upon the ground. Mikoto kept stuttering in shock.

_Shit that hurt…god…fuck…_ Zero stumbled, clutching his chest. _Agh…dammit…note to self: don't get stabbed anymore, it hurts. _He felt a foreign energy attempt to invade him. _Whoa hold on there…what the hell is-wait…it's…healing energy? Where's it-the pin…Maya…did she know? How did she know? Cause I mean shit, even a Mage would have been dead within a few minutes with a wound like this…but…I don't need it…of course…_

He smiled.

_I won't let this energy go to waste…I'll just convert…and…_

Surprising everyone, a large glowing object appeared in his right hand. With a powerful voice betraying the obvious bleeding wound through his body he spoke.

"**Kushizashi! Shinsei yari, Gungnir!" **(Impale! Sacred lance Gungnir!)

A large glyph appeared beneath him and spiraled outward, trapping the armored being in its black depths. Zero held out his right hand, where the Sacred Lance Gungnir rest. The double ended weapon vanished from his hands in a small orb of light, re-appearing above the monster. It glowed for a moment, then seemed to replicate itself three ways. The three glowing weapons transformed into beams of purple energy that streaked around before one slammed into the monster's torso.

"**Shingi!" **(Divine Technique)

The monster was flung into the air, where another stream slammed into it. Repeatedly, the three streams bounced the creature back and forth, almost creating a pattern before a final hit knocked it into the air further. Around it the trails left behind by the lances became a glowing white transparent rotating cube. The three glowing weapons appeared in a trinity formation; one to the upper left of the rotating cube, one to the upper right, and one directly below. The right weapon pulled back, flaring white and turning into a giant spear, impaling the cube, and the monster. The left one did the same, impaling both cube and creature, creating an X. The bottom one flared and turned into a more elegant looking version of the two, impaling from below, creating an asterisk.

The weapon appeared, in an orb of light, in Zero's right hand. He was twisted to the side, as if he had just caught it. The weapon flared a brilliant purple as he pulled back further.

"**SPIRITUAL LANCER!"**

He launched the weapon with a heavy swing involving his entire weight put into it. The weapon streaked through the air, leaving a wide trail of purple energy before slamming into the triad of spears, disintegrating them and catching the armored creature in a massive explosion of energy. The monster was slain…but more appeared. Hermione, Luna, Ginny and Harry all readied themselves, but Zero held out a hand.

"No…this one…is mine."

"But you're-

"Injured? This is nothing…I shall not fall to lowly creatures such as they…"

(BGM: Chrono Trigger – Atonement OC Remix)

He sighed and closed his eyes. A swirling dome of black surrounded him. Energy crackled around it for a few moments before it seemed to just suddenly vanish. When it did so, before them, Zero stood unharmed, a black glow about him. He turned his head, to address Mikoto.

"You back up your words with deeds, but it is not enough. My title was not handed to me…I have earned it. Whoever taught you the ways of battle did well…but you are still but a fleeting ember to my roaring flame. You hold power…but _she _was far stronger. Where I had to hold back with you, she could match me at full strength. Her sacrifice…restored to me what I had lost. Now watch…and behold the power that your mother gave to me…"

Ten of them. Ten armored beings exactly similar to the one Zero'd just slain.

_Ten ways to show just who they're messing with…_

He vanished. Mikoto gasped.

"That…that wasn't **Shunpo**…that was…_**Shukuchi?!**_**"**

Pillars of dust appeared scattered around one of the creatures…suddenly there were a few flashes of light…and moments later it fell to pieces.

All the day's events raced through Hermione's mind. It all fell into place.

"Bloody _fucking _hell!"

Everyone, and I mean _everyone _turned to her. She stared at the randomly created pillars of dust as they appeared, her eyes never once straying from the blurred form of Zero that only she, Luna, and Ginny could see.

"That was the Sacred Lance…Gungnir. The weapon once belonging to the God of Destruction, Zeromaru…stolen after his defeat by the God Slayer Xenmaru! He's…we were trained by the _Shinigami _himself!"

Another one fell to pieces. Back and forth the pillars raced, confounding both ally and enemy alike, before he struck.

"Wait, are you suggesting that Professor Shinzaki is…"

"I'm not _suggesting _anything. He IS the Shinigami. I can't believe I didn't see it before!"

Not wanting to be slaughtered so easily, the remaining Marcellus charged the God Slayer. He flickered into view in the center of the closing circle of armor.

"For the lives of my students…"

He raised his right arm.

"On the hopes of my friends…"

Within his fist glowed a silver light.

"By the light of the Gods…"

A glowing glyph appeared beneath him. Five squares arranged in a star pattern, each tip of the squares bearing a small circle.

"Become Dust!"

Streams of energy launched from the circles, ripping through the creatures' armor, slowly pulling them towards Zero.

"**AKASHIC TORMENT!"**

He slammed his glowing fist into the center of the glyph and a pillar of light surrounded by bands of energy covered in symbols erupted from it, engulfing and eradicating the remaining creatures. The light faded, and Zero stood.

He walked to the group of students and teachers, Mikoto holding her side (she fell on a rather pointed rock) while standing away from them.

"There is much to be said."

* * *

After a long hiatus it's back! And with plenty of asskicking abound! Once again I'm posting before work so I'll have to make this short.

Raeynr: thanks for the praise and I'm glad it's making sense for you again. Hope you enjoy this one.

Grayphoenix: we spoke about your Light/Dark idea right? I'll explain more of my version of it in the next chapter. We should compare notes, who knows, we might find something. As for Malfoy…well, I've got a plan for him.

D&S Master: I'll PM you the links if I haven't already. Hope this one catches your eye.

Shit, five minutes left. Alright, next chapter, talking, history, and lessons. Have fun! FUCK WORK.


	9. Maya and Duel

**Reverse Rebirth**

**Chapter VIII: Explanatory Action**

(BGM: Persona 3 FES – Living with determination)

"Got you cornered kid."

The little blonde girl sighed sadly and plopped down into a chair. Maya had tried to flee into the castle, taking random staircases both up and down, dashing through different hallways, and trying to hide in one of many unused classrooms…but he still found her.

"I…know."

The person she was running from, the person she wanted to help, only with things ending up that he didn't need her help at all…leaned against the wall, not really looking at her, but not annoyed either. He had a playful smirk on his face, a look of triumph.

"So…why'd you run?"

The girl shuddered slightly. "I…was scared. I didn't…I didn't want you to be angry…"

"Kid, you tried to save my life. Why in Saturn's name would I be angry about that?"

"I…I don't know…"

She flinched as a gentle hand found its way to the top of her head. She looked up at her teacher with watery eyes.

"What you did…was incredible. I've only been teaching you for a few months, but you managed to somehow enchant a small object to release Healing class energy into my body at a specific moment. I didn't need it…but it doesn't change the fact that you did something amazing."

She lowered her gaze. "I didn't do it alone…"

"I know. I could feel a bunch of different energy patterns trying to weave themselves into a single one. Had this been a year or two from now, I probably never would have noticed it was happening. What you did was rather dangerous…but hey, it worked, and if it hadn't, at the very least I'd end up with maybe a minor spell burn on my chest. I still gotta ask though…how did you know?"

"All my life…I've been seeing things. Things that haven't happened yet. About two months ago…I started seeing a weekly vision involving you. At first I thought it was just a dream…I thought maybe I had a crush on you and didn't realize it, and it was acting out in my dreams…but then it kept getting worse and worse…I kept seeing you fighting that girl, and then something happening to you. I could never tell if it was her doing it, or someone else. But I knew one thing…it was bad. After the second week, I gathered a few people I trusted and let them know about what I was seeing…"

"A Seer huh? That's…a pretty difficult talent to manage."

"Tell me about it. I made so many mistakes early on…I kept trying to stop what I would see from happening…only to either mess up, or not be able to do anything…either way, the outcome was always bad. But when I started making smaller changes…little things that almost nobody would catch…"

"You found you could let the vision play itself out…but you controlled how much of it happened."

She looked up at him in surprise. "Y-yeah! How'd you know?"

"I've got that power too. Only it wasn't always the same as yours…mine started as something called 'Battle Precognition.' It means that when I'm in a tense situation, like the middle of a fight, I suddenly _know _what my opponent is going to do before they do it. I don't see anything…or rather, I didn't at the time, I just knew. As if they were telling me beforehand. At first it didn't make much of a difference really, so I knew what they were going to do a few seconds in advance, I wasn't fast enough to make a change, so I could only brace for impact. Eventually, I started getting involved with probability and stuff like that."

She looked confused. "Keep forgetting you're a kid. Probability, you'd probably have learned the basics around now in muggle schools. It's…chance. The chance of something happening within a given timeframe or location. Like say…you get a box of Bertie Bot's Every Flavor Beans…but it's a special box, only red ones are allowed in it. So you have one color, but since it's EVERY FLAVOR, you could end up with cinnamon, blood, red pepper, cherry, strawberry raspberry…you get the idea. Probability would ask: what are the chances of getting say…a blood flavored bean. Now since blood flavored beans are rare…maybe…one out of every twenty red beans someone eats is a blood flavored bean, chance would indicate out of a box of say…five hundred red beans, it's likely only twenty-five of them would be blood flavored. You with me?"

"Yes…actually."

"Alright, now that math was probably a bit off, it's not my strongest point, but you get what I'm talking about right?"

"Probability is the act of chance…discovering the chances of something happening…right?"

"Basically. Anyway, once I started getting involved with chances, and probabilities, I started seeing more things in battle. I became able to calculate and anticipate actions, reactions and how a certain method of attack would affect my opponent. Someone could prep a punch and then I'd suddenly see the chances of me dodging, but them following it up, based on my knowledge of their skill compared against mine, and go from there. Or, I'd see an attack coming, and suddenly be able to know all the possible methods of following up they could do, in the event I dodged."

"Can I have an example?"

"Of course…alright someone goes for a leaping spin kick, where they push off the ground with one foot, get about two or three feet into the air, spin their body and extend their other leg. Let's say the pushed off with their right, and kick with their left, going with a left spin, which means you would be hit with the back of their leg. Let's say you block it with your left arm. Now in that instant, there's a CRAPTON of possibilities from there, which are actions you can take, THEY can take or the actions that would happen from both of you."

She nodded, absorbing the information like a sponge.

"Alright, let's say you deflect their kick, meaning not only do you block, but your strength beats theirs and since instead of just lifting your arm in a block, you swung it out as a counter, and you force their foot away from you, causing them to spin in reverse. THAT opens up a _different _set of possibilities, one being that if you don't follow up, or even if you do, they can force their body to go WITH the spin and try kicking you from the other angle before gravity takes over and pulls them back to the ground. Another being that in deflecting their attack, you knock them off balance and they end up falling back down, but you can then grab one of their feet, most likely in this case the right one, and; provided you have the required strength, can throw your weight into it and throw them in a different direction."

"What about magic?"

"Well, wizard magic can be fought the same way, only with this it's less focus on the body, and more on a specific portion of the body. Like with a sword fight, the best way to fight an opponent with a wand, is to watch the wrists."

"Why?"

"Because the wrist movement is a slight indication of the most likely type of attack your opponent is going to use. It's not the know all see all knowledge divination of how they're going to attack, but it's pretty accurate. A swish, a wide arc in a sweeping motion, will most likely launch a spell that will be slower, but with a wider range of effect. A flick is usually going to be something fast, but with a narrow range, generally around the size of your torso if fighting an average strength opponent. While a swish would probably be the size of your torso, mixed with the width of maybe your arm length."

"What about Wingardium Leviosa? That uses both."

"Well, we all know what that one does, but the movements for that, the swish and then flick, is to concentrate your magic in a wide area and then latch on to something. Think of a net. The swish would be you throwing the net over something, and the flick would be you attaching a hook to that net, and being able to dictate where it goes. Like I said, it's not perfect, but it can save your life if you know the signs. Especially when fighting an opponent who can cast non-verbally; without the need for saying what they're doing."

"I understand."

"Good. Oh…balls…I'm late."

"Late?"

"Remember? I called a meeting in the headmaster's office…and went to track you down…"

"Oh! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to-

"Ahh, don't worry about it. I'm sure the others have come up with SOMETHING to do while I've been here…"

* * *

(BGM: Sonic Rush – Jeh Jeh Rocket)

Hermione was open. She had two cards down but Luna's Mirage Dragon wouldn't let her activate them. Luminous Spark increasing her side's attack power, she struck.

"Direct Attack with Arcana Force Extra!"

In a surprise move, Hermione smirked and flipped over one of her cards. Because it WASN'T a trap, it wasn't affected by Mirage Dragon's ability.

"Scapegoat!" Ginny groaned. Four fluffy balls of cute appeared on Hermione's side.

"Attack the one on the far left!"

A beam of light erupted from Luna's creature, blowing the fluffball to hell.

"I end my turn…"

Hermione drew. Holding two cards but not being able to do anything, she too ended her turn. Though she was leading in points, she had nothing to attack with, and Mirage Dragon's effect stopped her from using any truly devastating traps. Luna drew, then attacked with all three of her monsters, wiping out Hermione's remaining defenses before ending her turn. Everyone waited with bated breath, wondering what was going to come next.

Hermione drew, then placed a card face down on her side, horizontally. She ended her turn with a scowl. Luna drew and then activated her newly drawn Bright Castle. The Equip Spell card was placed upon her Arcana Force, increasing it to an amazing Five-thousand two hundred attack points. Luna entered battle, directing her weakest monster, the Mirage Dragon, to attack.

Hermione's Familiar Possessed - Aussa, could do nothing as it was sliced in twain. Copycat attacked for twenty four hundred, and then she followed up with Arcana Force.

"DAMMIT!" In one series of blows, Hermione was taken down from her original eight thousand points to a mere four hundred. Out of monsters, Luna ended her turn.

Hermione drew…then bowed her head silently, ending her turn. Luna drew…then laughed.

She laughed in a way that sent chills down everyone's spine, laughing like a deranged maniac.

"ACTIVATE!"

She slammed the green card down, a glint in her eye. "UNITED WE STAND!"

Hermione's pupils dilated and she let loose a squeaked "oh…shit…"

The card, which increases the target monster's attack by eight hundred points for every face up monster on the owner's side of the field, brought Luna's Arcana Force Extra – The Light Ruler to a whopping Seven Thousand Six Hundred attack points.

"Oh don't look so shocked Hermione…it's only Seven Thousand Two Hundred more than your health…"

She entered battle.

"Arcana Force…end this."

The twin headed dragon model bowed to its mistress and turned. Both heads reared to the side, spheres of light appearing in their mouths. Their claws also began emanating energy, along with the strange almost mirror like object on its round body. The five spheres fired small beams of light together into the air…which combined into a massive blue-white beam that erupted over the field and covered Hermione's entire body. The counter next to her that showed her remaining points dropped to zero. The light faded as the phantom images did, and everyone laughed as a scorched Hermione, with hair frizzed out and covered in dust coughed, a black cloud of smoke coming from her mouth.

Luna giggled as Ginny rushed her in a hug.

"You did it! You beat the Queen!"

That's when Zero walked in.

"The hell? What happened here?"

Mikoto glared at him, then sighed. "You were taking so long, so the blonde and the brunette pulled out a set of cards and started playing."

"Ahh…judging by Hermione's smoked look I take it she lost?"

Ginny smiled cheerfully. "Yup! Now all Luna has to do is beat you!"

"I'm impressed…even I have trouble against Hermione's Rozen Maidens…"

"The coin toss for Luna's Arcana Force landed Heads…she'd probably not have won if not for that."

"Ahh…kill something with it, bring something back." He looked at Hermione who was cleaning herself off.

"What card?"

"Mirage _fucking _Dragon."

"Oooh…"

Ginny piped in. "She used it as fodder to summon the Arcana Force, and then used a Vortex Kong to tank a Removal, and then killed off a monster with Arcana Force and brought back Mirage Dragon."

"Nice. But…why'd Hermione get all char-broiled?"

Luna smiled evilly. "Luminous Spark, Bright Castle…and United."

"Shit! How many on the field?"

"Just three, Arcana Force included."

"Damn…Seventy Six? How much was left?"

"Oh I took her down to four hundred in the turn before that."

"So you took her down without a hit?"

Hermione jumped in. "No, she ate a Cylinder after she summoned Arcana Force."

"Ouch, cut in half…bet you're wishing you'd saved it for later huh?"

"Hmph."

Zero just gaped for a moment. "Well…good thing I made a new deck a couple nights ago…"

Luna got another glint in her eyes. "Bring it on."

"Oh it shall be brought. Just not now."

Hermione nodded. "That's right. It's time for you to spill. What are you…the Shinigami, doing here?!"

Zero sighed. "It's a long story…It all started when…"

* * *

Well. After a long hiatus here's your new chapter. It's not much, and the next one is also going to be all talking, but there's some plot, and a goofy little scene. I'm going to out and say I'd been planning that little battle for a while now…only when I planned it I had originally planned to use the battle I had against "Ginny's" deck, as the template. Then I realized that I suck with making fire decks, and Hermione's deck; "Rozen Maidens" would have completely schooled it. So, as I wrote that part after Zero's talk with Maya, I whipped out my WC2k8 and switched over to Celestial Star, the Light Deck Luna uses, and pulled up a Recipe Duel against Rozen Maidens.

And yes, I did end up eating a Magic Cylinder for 4000 LP right after I got Arcana Force out. It's a good thing I chose not to attack right away with Arcana Force though, or Luna'd have ended up eating a DD Warrior Lady and Hermione's deck would have won.

In case you're wondering, Rozen Maidens is an all Female deck. Meaning other than maybe a few "animals" and one or two "objects" the monsters are all girls. It's a pretty offensive deck, its aim is to summon and strike before the opponent can strike back, using the girls effects supplemented with a few choice spells and traps to keep enemies off their backs.

However, Luna's deck, Celestial Star, is a Light Deck. Meaning ONLY Light monsters, Field and Equip cards that Boost Light Monster's attacks, and a few specific traps. If I hadn't drawn Arcana Force in the beginning of the Duel like I did, Celestial Star would have been the loser.

D&S Master: Akashic Torment…it wasn't the end I originally had planned for that…

**OMAKE**

"Behold."

Zero held out his right hand. Rings of blue-green energy began spiraling around within his palm, forming a condensed orb of power. The orb began sucking in the air around it.

"This…is a move I learned…from your mother…"

He focused more energy to the orb, and it seemed to bulge outward. Four points like fan blades appeared on the orb, turning it from a sphere into what looked like a giant shuriken.

**Futon: Rasenshuriken**

Zero thrust his body weight forward, launching the odd attack to the center of the Marcellus group. The glowing whirling object of death landed directly in the center and then seemed to detonate in a bright flash. A massive gust of wind tore through the Quidditch field. When the light and dust faded nothing remained. A giant crater was where their precious field once was.

"Futon: Rasenshuriken…a weapon created from condensed wind energy. When invoked…impact rips apart the target's body on a molecular level. Which is why it's best to throw it and then get the fuck out of the way…"

* * *

Yeah, that's generally how I originally planned the last chapter to end. It wasn't until I got to work that day did I realize I completely botched it up.


	10. Exposition

**Reverse Rebirth**

**Chapter IX: Possibility**

(BGM: Wild Arms – The Power Which Supports the World)

_**She stood floating over the battlefield.**_

_What's going on?_

_**Below her she saw the demonic forces of Lord Voldemort battling against the students of Hogwarts. Harry Potter and Lord Voldemort battled fiercely, away from the rest. The two seemed evenly matched. Every spell launched was either evaded or deflected.**_

_A battle?_

_**Above her, the sky distorted as a gigantic swirling rift appeared. Everything stopped. Every combatant, good or evil, gazed skyward. From the rift emerged the spire of a castle. The castle was atop a large island and for some reason, upside-down.**_

_What is this?!_

_**She watched as glowing flickers of light gathered around the castle's top. Symbols, Runes, Markings, all appeared arranged around what seemed like the gigantic transparent face of a clock. Waves of color washed over the world from the island, until it spread throughout the whole universe.**_

_I don't understand this…what am I seeing?_

_**Silver light gathered at the center of the clock face…and then fired in the form of a blinding beam upon Hogwarts Castle. Upon impact, the beam splintered as its silver rays surrounded the planet, reaching out to everywhere the initial colors touched. A feeling of great pressure washed over her as the whole universe seemed to reverse itself. Eventually the swirling planets and stars blended together in a wall of white, and for a time, she was blinded.**_

_Ow! This bloody hurts!_

_**Suddenly, her vision returned. Below her once again was a battlefield. Hogwarts students against the forces of Lord Voldemort…however…there were fewer of the enemy than before. As like before, Voldemort and Harry Potter battled away from the rest…only this time Harry Potter was dominating. She heard a voice familiar to her call out to the Last Potter, to end the battle here. With a nearly blinding flare of white, Voldemort was erased from existence.**_

_**However…there was one problem.**_

…_Bloody Hell…_

_**A few minutes after everyone gave a loud cheer, a violent rumbling shook the earth. A beam of black light erupted from the ground where Voldemort fell. After a few moments, the beam began taking shape…but the watcher was unable to see what…for it was then that she began to awaken.**_

_What? No! I have to see more!_

_**Her wish was granted…only what she saw wasn't what she had hoped for. Like with her first vision since entering Hogwarts…once again, she saw the death of her favored Professor…a giant claw through his torso.**_

* * *

(BGM: Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann (hereby referred to as TTGL) – BafBaf! Sonna ni Moeru no ga…Suki Kai)

The room stood silent. Zero was propped against a wall, awaiting their response to his tale. Hermione was the first to find her voice.

"You…you turned back time?"

"Yerp."

"But…wouldn't that-

"Nope. I reversed this entire _universe._ Meaning everything that ever happened to ANYONE in this universe reversed itself. For the most part everything just happened all over again. It's only this particular world that I started fooling around with…to make sure shit went right."

"Then why the bloody hell haven't you offed You-Know-Who if you're so damn powerful?!"

"Ronald!"

"Actually…" Dumbledore began, "That's something I wonder myself."

"Clotho may be dead, but the things she put into motion before this point keep me from killing the prick myself. Honestly, the same question could be asked of you Old Man. While the Prophecy stops anyone but Harry from offing Snakeass entirely, it would have been pretty simple for you to track down his essence and seal it into something. I mean fuck, Clotho only bound him and Harry _because _nobody did anything about him you old codger! You had multiple opportunities to at least severely stall him to a point where it'd take a couple decades before he'd be able to start up again. But no, you're a dumb old fuck that can't even do something that simple right."

"I beg to-

"Oh shut up you fossil. I may not like him, but Zero raises a point. I don't know the whole story of this world, nor do I care honestly, but I can tell you are, or at least _were _a man of great power. If this…Voldemort, was such a threat, you should have been right up his ass every time he made a move."

"See? Even Miko-chan agrees."

"Don't call me that!"

Momentarily forgetting her place, Molly Weasely chimed in.

"Show the Headmaster some respect!"

Before Zero or Mikoto could respond, Snape cut in.

"It's no use Weasely. Those two are too idiotic to perceive such a request. The girl's mother was the same way no doubt."

That…was the wrong thing to say.

Mikoto bolted out of her chair, blade in hand, ready to cut the bastard in two. Just as she was to reach him she froze, a look of horror on her face.

(BGM: Bleach – enemy unseen)

**A cold feeling washed over all present. Waves of visible dark energy began swirling around Zero, who stared at Snape with a much hated look. The cold surprised the greasy bastard, but otherwise, the man was barely intimidated…until he felt a strange prickling on his arm.**

**His eyes widened in shock as he watched hundreds of tiny insects crawl out from a sudden hole in his palm. At the same time his body began to shudder as he felt unending heat coming from within. Inside his body, his blood was beginning to heat rapidly, draining him of nearly all oxygen. Snape began to pant while he watched the insects crawl along his arms. There was a loud snapping noise and the man gave a hoarse scream of pain as his ribcage suddenly inverted, piercing both lungs and his heart, which continued to beat, sending unimaginable waves of pain through his body.**

**Blood began to bubble out of his mouth, covering the insects and slowly eating away at his flesh. Every hair on his body suddenly became rigid, transforming into small but powerful needles that rocketed inward, piercing both muscle and bone. The insects mutated from his blood, turning into flying red swarms that whirled around him, tearing at his exposed muscles. His nerves were alight with flame as the blood pumping through his veins turned to acid, searing his body from within. The acid burned at his eyes, causing them to shrivel and then burst. All twenty of his nails suddenly ripped off, spurting blood everywhere.**

**The screaming never ended…even when it turned into a hissing gurgle.**

**The man's brain was overloaded, the grey matter generating far too much heat…and actually beginning to melt. His spinal cord snapped in multiple places, the bones shattering and shredding muscles everywhere. He lost control of bladder and bowels, expelling shite and urine at the same time, before his anus practically exploded, as the man's testicles burst from within. The man dropped to the floor, nerves still active though his brain turned to mush, the now liquefied substance dripping from his nasal passages, his ears and from the sockets where his eyes used to be, his body twitching as insects released small jolts of energy, electrifying his muscles, causing them to move, which then spread the acid farther, as well as snapping more bones in his body.**

**And then the world returned to normal.**

* * *

Mass vomiting ensued. The headmaster's office was covered in the contents of every being present…Zero excluded. The oppressive dark aura receded into himself as Severus Snape lay on the ground, drenched in shite, urine, vomit and sweat…but otherwise unharmed. The Potion's Master lay twitching on the ground, his voice silenced by the shredding of his vocal cords.

Even Dumbledore was sick to his stomach. He'd seen dangerously disturbing things in his life…but that combination of events…

After cleaning herself up, still shuddering, Mikoto quietly spoke.

"You really _did _love her…didn't you?"

"If I could…I'd rather she be here than I. There is nothing more of my entire life I regret than not being able to fight the power off…"

"I see…you are…a far crueler man than I imagined…but…you show it only to those that deserve it…"

"Fear…is a very powerful deterrent. If one fears you, but does not feel trapped by you, they will abstain from acting. It is when one feels trapped that one lashes out, one plans against their captor. Respect is a better tool to wield when attempting to gather others…but if people need to be controlled, monitored…fear…is the strongest weapon…when used properly."

"What…what was that?!"

"That…Harry Potter…is a powerful ability called a Reality Marble. It is formed when a sufficiently strong enough person is able to create an "enclosed space" in which they are god. It requires an unknown amount of power, but to activate, let alone sustain it, you have to be near god-like."

This time, Hermione spoke.

"B-but…the power requirements a-are cut in h-half…if you hold the p-power of Creation…r-right?"

"Yes. Because you are doing that which only those aligned with Creation should be able to do, if you are indeed aligned with Creation, it is far less taxing to maintain, and requires less of an investment to cast."

Dumbledore tried to shake off the effects, but Luna beat him to the punch. Her own natural serenity helped restore her mindset to its previous level.

"What will happen to Professor Snape?"

"Because he's such a slimy git, I've localized the Reality Marble to be within his mind. He'll go through that torture repeatedly for the next five days, with things constantly varying slightly so he doesn't grow used to it. Each time, it will be triggered from an action he has previously taken."

McGonagall was disturbed. "All because of an insult?"

Ginny snarled. "Didn't you pay attention?! Snape was talking about _her _mother!" She pointed at Mikoto. "Aura, the wielder of Creation in an age LONG before our time! A woman that shouldn't have died when she did, but was killed because Clotho fucked around with the balance of powers! Not to bloody well mention all the fucking sheer BULLSHIT that greasy fuck has pulled over the years! Zero happens to be the bloody Shinigami himself! He could have done MUCH worse to the bastard!"

The mark on the back of her neck began to glow a fierce Violet. Luna quickly placed a glowing palm on Ginny's shoulder, trying to envelop the red-head with feelings of calm. Slowly the glow faded as Ginny relaxed. She was still irritated but gave Luna a small thanks before sitting down in a huff.

Dumbledore cleared his throat. "What you are saying is that you cannot do anything about Voldemort?"

"Not without undoing everything I've been trying to do. Imagine Voldemort as a locked door. Harry here is the key. I could bust down said door, but the door is a valuable one that is connected to one of the key support frames of the building, and knocking it down through sheer force could bring the whole place down on us before anyone could do anything. I and possibly Mikoto would be safe from any harm, because we are not _from _this world, we are outworlders, beings of a higher plane, therefore happenings on this world can't truly effect us unless we allow them to. However this world, and all of you, would feel the repercussions of said actions. What I _can _and _have _done, is even things out for your side. While Voldemort has quantity, in both Death Eater and Genma, though soon the Death Eaters are going to revolt because of his alliance with the Genma, you now have quality, in Luna, Ginny, Hermione and Harry himself. The four of them can now access greater levels of power than even you Dumbledore. Of course, once this war is over, I'll be sealing at least half of that immense power."

Harry frowned. "Why?"

"Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely."

Hermione nodded. "I understand."

Ron didn't. "Then bloody well explain it Hermione!"

"He's going to _seal _our power, not _remove _it. We'll still be able to access it in times of need, but generally we'll be reduced to probably around Dumbledore's if not a tad bit weaker, because there will be no real _need _for the level of power we've acquired."

"Exactly. Think of it like this. Aura and I used to seal our excess power all the time, and leveled it off. I've continued to do this, and created a series of mental and physical transformed states matching the level of power I need to access. There's me as I am now, my base form. Decent amount of power, able to basically do whatever I want within reason, battle capabilities are high-average. Then there's my Demonic form, which adds a great deal of physical and magical strength, while nearly doubling my already insane speed, my God-Dragon form, which is the third strongest form I have, due to both its size and power. That one is used mostly against a mass army, or one bigass bastard that my more humanoid forms can't handle. My God-Demon-Dragon form, which is basically a slightly stronger version of my God-Dragon form, only it pilots on pure rage, therefore it's not as…smart, due to the reverting to baser instincts. Absolute Zero, which is what I call me when I'm pissed to the point where I don't even feel anything at all. That's my second strongest form, the one that can take out a God Class being with minimal effort, and then is my Shinigami form, my true power. Every bit of energy within my body is set free. So far, nothing has been able to stand up to it…but that one requires a very specific series of events to happen, and I can only access it freely in the Realm of the Gods."

Tonks wondered. "Why's that?"

"Because as long as I am upon a Mortal Plane, I myself, though very difficult to kill, am mortal. It was one of the restrictions I allowed placed upon myself. I _can _be killed on mortal soil. It doesn't always mean I'll _stay _dead, but my body can be destroyed. In the Godly Plane, however, unless someone has the ability to wipe out a soul of immense power, I cannot die in any form. I can be knocked unconscious, I can be drained of a great deal of energy to the point where I must rest to recover it, I can be injured, though it'll just heal in a second, but I cannot truly die. At least…I don't think I can."

"I see." Dumbledore turned his gaze upon Ginny. "Miss Weasely, I believe it's time you told us exactly what it is you can do. We know what He and your friends can do, but not yourself."

She glared but sighed. "Fine, fine…it starts back in my First Year-

That's when a loud cracking noise shot through the room. A massive shockwave erupted from before Zero, knocking Mikoto backward and pushing everyone else back a few paces. The ground in front of him shattered inward as the form of a little blonde haired girl appeared.

"Maya?"

Crying, the blonde girl leapt at Zero and held on for dear life.

"Whoa, hey! What's the matter kit?"

"I had...a vision!"

"Hey, hey…relax, its ok. Take a deep breath and tell me what happened."

"I…I don't know…I saw…I saw Harry Potter and You-Know-Who…and then…a big castle…and then a bright light."

Eyebrows rose all around.

"Ok, what else?"

"I saw Harry Potter and You-Know-Who again…but I saw him beat You-Know-Who…but…but…Something came out from his body and killed you!"

Zero gave a coy grin. "Gee…with the amount of times you see me dead in the future, one would get the feeling you didn't like me."

She gave a small glare and swatted him on the arm. "Prat! I'm serious!"

It couldn't be helped. "No, I'M Sirius. You're Maya. Get it right kiddo."

Maya whirled around and shot the most heated glare at Sirius, who backed away, arms raised.

"Did you see what it looked like?"

She shook her head. "No…the vision faded in between whatever it was appearing, and then you getting run through…"

"Hmm…well, that _is _a problem…"

"Zero…didn't you say you were weaving the thread of this world? Can't you just…stop all that from happening?"

"I…could…but I won't. Maya has no connection to the fates, which means her vision came from the World itself. This means that it is an event that _must _take place for the world to continue. Maybe not the part of me getting run through, but whatever appears _has _to appear for this world to continue properly. I'd believe Maya had the vision because of the severity of the path, and it was to be a warning that the supposed final battle may not be so final."

He looked down at the blonde clutching him.

"You wanna head back to sleep?"

She shook her head violently. "No! I…I wont be able to sleep for a while…can I just…stay here for a bit?"

"Eh, sure."

"Now wait a moment, I don't think-

"When do you _ever _think? Anything she hears here is well within her right. She _does _have the power of Sight after all. And apparently she can see past events just as well as future…considering she was able to see my actions here…which…honestly doesn't make sense but whatever. I stopped questioning how Sight works lifetimes ago…"

"So can I continue now?"

"By all means Ginny."

"Well…most of us here know how in my first year I was manipulated and possessed by a fragment of Voldemort through an enchanted Diary. Well…his possession went deeper than I or anyone else knew."

"What she means is that Tom left his natural power over Darkness within her. It fused with her natural power of Flame, and gave birth to those lovely black flames she hurls around."

"Because Tom also forced my body to replicate the power of Parseltongue, I've…retained…the ability to talk to serpents."

"Tom's remaining essence grew and overlapped with Ginny's own personality. But since it had been within her for so long, her magic accepted it as part of her, and broke his essence down and fused it with her own. She already had a temperamental personality, but combined with Tom's own natural charisma and intellect, now made a fusion of the two: the beautifully snarky and sarcastic girl in front of us."

"Oh go blow a donkey."

"Case in point."

"And the markings?"

"Because her magic knew that which she didn't, when I placed the base seals on all three of them, her magic twisted it into the seal of Black Flame, which best suits those with great darkness within their souls. It is the most temperamental of the seals, reacting to even the slightest bit of anger, but it has to be _actual _anger. It can't just be momentary irritation. They've all reached the level where they can call upon its power at will, but Ginny's will always be the first to react."

"Very well…I believe that should sedate our queries for now…just one last thing…who…is _she_?"

Mikoto turned her head.

"She is…I guess you could call her our 'daughter'. Honestly…she was just a little girl the two of us had taken an interest in…who was thought to be killed in that battle…"

"The clash between Creation and Destruction destroyed the world you two were battling on. With Mother's death at your hands, and you absorbing her power into yourself, returning the power of Chaos to the universe, the sudden removal of such a great force sent an echo through the worlds. I was…changed…by those echoes, because of the connection the three of us shared. It was Clotho that found me…bullshat me into believing that you'd slain Mother of your own will…and trained me to destroy you. She always underestimated you, assuming you suffered a severe power reduction for being in the mortal realm…"

"Good thing the bitch is dead then."

"What? I thought you couldn't kill a Deity unless they were currently mortal!"

He held up his arm, on it flashed a violet ring. Harry's ring echoed the pulse.

"Wait…you have one too?!"

"I have the original. It was Aura's creation…an object strong enough to change the very properties of things…the one thing that could destroy even Gods."

"And by killing her in the Realm of Deities, you ensured she would never revive…brilliant…"

"Thank you my dear Hermione."

"Alright, we know who you two are, and what you can do. Now where do we go from here?"

"Well Moody, the best course of action would be for things to keep going as they were. Those Marcellus were sent by Voldemort, which means he's able to summon the stronger of the Genma now. He's soon to attack, I believe…but we'll be ready for him."

"I pray so. Very well…this meeting has reached its end. Classes will resume in two days, to repair the damage to the Quidditch field and surrounding areas."

"Hey…Mione…mind taking Miko-chan to my quarters? I wanna walk Maya back to her common room."

"Alright. Zero…I…"

"Hey…don't worry about it ok? Everything'll turn out fine."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

* * *

Lot more serious this time through. I'll explain the whole 'Maya apparating into Dumbles' room' thing next chapter.

D&S Master: Yeah, she did get whupped didn't she? I hope this one answers a few questions.

Hmm…I expected more people. I must be losing my touch…real life seems to have that effect upon me…


	11. Anger

**Reverse Rebirth**

**Chapter X: A Warning of the Gods**

"…and I'm telling you Dumbledore, you have stepped outside your boundaries with this!"

"Perhaps…Cornelius, this conversation would be best held in my office…away from prying ears."

"Oh I don't think so Dumbledore, the world will know of your incompetence!"

Zero gave a snort at that. The Minister of Magic had been ranting away at the old man for about twenty minutes now, each time he spoke made Zero want to laugh out loud, but he held his tongue.

"And what do you think is so funny young man?!"

"Simple, you talking about someone _else's _incompetence, when it's you who let Voldemort return."

Flinches all around…mostly from the older years. The Minister's Toady, Dolores Umbridge, who'd made a startlingly amazing recovery piped in.

"Hold your tongue boy! As if a simple minded fool like you could-

"Enough Dolores. It seems you have something to say to me boy."

Zero's eyes narrowed. "I have a name you worthless pile of shite. Perhaps, if you learned proper diplomacy, this country wouldn't be on its knees kissing the feet of an undead! But no, you who are filled with fear and desperation refuse to see the truth in front of you! You who are so focused on keeping your position of power, on ruining the lives of people forced under conditions they had no control over, you who are so blind to the-

"Figures that you'd be a half-breed lover you stupid ni-

"DOLORES!"

Everyone knew what she was going to say. Zero simply sighed.

"…I see. So that's how you think…very well then…I trust you got all that…Miss Skeeter?"

From a far corner, a shimmer appeared and the form of Rita Skeeter stepped out of the shadows.

"Every last bit Mister Shinzaki."

"Very good."

Both Dumbledore and Fudge were surprised and indignant.

"What is _she _doing here?!"

"She, is here at my behest. When I gained wind of your coming, I thought it simply prudent to invite the world's biggest gossip to the field. Just so for once, the truth would be properly printed…don't you agree Miss Skeeter?"

"Of course Mister Shinzaki." _Holy fuck I never want to have to go through that again…I'd take rape and torture from the Dark Lord and his followers over what he did to me…_

"Now see here-

"Silence mortal."

The Minister could only blink in surprise.

"You will speak when instructed, unless you wish to never speak again…"

It came without warning. A massive pressure upon his heart. A sudden feeling that he was dealing with someone _not to be fucked with_.

"As for you…I should kill you Dolores Umbridge. I should rid this world of your disgusting taint…but no…there is something…much more fitting. You see, the Minister of Magic is supposed to be the mouth of the People. You, as his right hand…thing…are the mouth of the Minister. If you had any subordinates, they would be _your _mouth, do you understand?"

"What the hell are guuughahrr-

"Do. You. Understand?"

Unable to speak, clutching her neck in a futile attempt to remove the invisible hands crushing it, she nodded. Once she did, she found air flowed to her lungs once again.

"Good. Therefore, as the mouth of the minister, who is the mouth of the people, you represent the people…and it would seem, the People are mindless bigots, deserving of swift and total annihilation."

Dumbledore tensed. _What is he doing?!_

"As such…well…I'll let you see the results for yourself. If any available House Elf could kindly bring and activate a Wireless for me, I would be quite grateful."

Nearly seconds after he spoke his request, a very familiar house elf to the watching Harry Potter appeared.

"Here is yours Wireless Master Shin!"

"Thank you Dobby, I shall see you rewarded handsomely for this."

"Not at all Master Shin! Its being my pleasure!"

He popped away. The kind smile offered to the tiny life form vanishing with him. The radio was blathering on about something Zero didn't care for.

"Now…behold the fruits of your labor."

He snapped his fingers.

* * *

"…and that was the Weird Sisters with their latest: 'I should have used the Spellotape! Next up is-

"ADRIAN! SWEET MERLIN! ADRIAN ARE YOU FUCKING SEEING THIS?!"

"Mitch? What are you doing I'm on the ai-

"FUCK THAT LOOK OUT THE BLOODY WINDOW!"

"Jeez Mitch are you trying to get me fi-

"JUST FUCKING DO IT WOMAN!"

"Alright alright…**HOLY SHIT! **WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT?! What is that thing? WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT THING?!"

Another radio host came on the air.

"L-ladies and gentlemen…I don't-…dear god…I-Some strange black…ORB. Has appeared right on top of Diagon Ally! I-we don't know where it came from or what-

"IT'S DISSAPEARING!"

"I know you can all hear this. A strange…something just appeared over Diagon Ally and is now slowly flickering away. I don't know how to properly describe it-

"The fuck you mean you don't know?! For Morgana's sake it was a GIANT BLACK BALL! You couldn't see SHITE through it and it was perfectly bleeding round! What ELSE is there to say about it?!"

"…it took Diagon Ally with it."

"**WHAT?!"**

"D-Diagon Ally…it's…gone."

"Dear…gods…"

"**Citizens of Wizarding Brittan."**

* * *

Everyone stared at Zero in abject horror. He held his hand over the radio and spoke.

"Citizens of Wizarding Brittan. I trust you know of what has just transpired. I, am Lord Shinigami Xenmaru, yes, the legendary God Slayer from your pathetic little history books. What just happened was the result of your incompetence and foolishness in regards to your own people. As you can no doubt see, the so called Dark Lord Voldemort is but a child wielding a noisemaker and firecracker compared to me. The destruction of one of your most populated areas has been realized due to the words of your people. The actions of your Minister of Magic, Wizarding Brittan's mouth of the people, and his underlings, in specification one Dolores Umbridge have prompted me to act upon your own wishes."

His face was like stone. Unflinching. Unmoving. Uncaring. This was the God of Destruction himself.

"What has transpired, is the realization of all the hate, disdain, ungrounded fear, and sheer ignorance radiated by your people and turned into a massive destructive force. You brought this upon yourselves by being so close-minded. You are the ones who summoned that sphere of destruction upon your greatest treasure. I am no terrorist, for I am far beyond such foolishness. I have no demands, for they would never be met with the current generation. I have seen to this world's thread personally and will see my dedication through to the end, and then sever all ties to this worthless rock afterward. My will is for the destruction of the one who calls himself Voldemort, one Thomas Riddle, and upon seeing the hearts and minds of this world's people, no longer care how such destruction is realized."

Umbridge just wouldn't shut up.

"You filthy half-breed bastard! How dare you-

"**SHIT! ANOTHER ONE JUST APPEARED OVER KNOCKTURN!"**

"You stupid coward! Parasite from another world-

"**TWO MORE! ONE OVER STONEHENGE ANOTHER JUST OFF THE BORDER TO WIZARDING FRANCE!"**

"**DAMMIT UMBRIDGE YOU STUPID FUCKING TOAD! SHUT THE FUCK UP OR YOU'LL GET US ALL KILLED!"**

"As you can see, your Minister, the voice of your people, is doing nothing to silence the one causing this destruction. It won't be long before the entirety of Wizarding Europe is covered in Desolation. Thus is the price of complacency."

"**DAMMIT! What the HELL do you want from us?!"**

"I want what the world wants. And the world wants you to stop being children. You fools, do you really think by ignoring the problem it will solve itself? Do you honestly believe by ridiculing, and scorning the only people who have willingly stepped up to the plate to stand against a force threatening your home, you show worth of existing? By finding their smallest flaws, by embellishing their darkest secrets, you prove yourself worthy of their protection? Lavish not praise and adoration upon them if you believe not in their cause, but respect their attempts at protecting the world you so claim to hold dear! It is your foolishness, your refusal to see truth, your mindless bigotry against those different from you that make you no better than the ones you call MUGGLES! Well News Flash you worthless cretins! With one action, the entire Wizarding population of the _planet _can be wiped out by these so called muggles below you."

"**Wh-what?"**

"Pay you no attention to the events of the non-magical world? They have developed weapons capable of piercing any and all magical protection through sheer destruction and radiation causing the land to be uninhabitable for at LEAST five centuries! Non-magical scientists are increasing their knowledge of kinetics, energy, and life around them that sooner or later they're BOUND to find you people, and some already _have._ Do you think, upon hearing that you are so stuck in medieval ways that they would find you worth studying, worth approaching in peace to further both races' existence through collaboration? NO! They will learn of your ways that they have left behind long ago, they will see your bigotry and ignorance, and deem you a threat to the world. No memory spell is strong enough to blanket the planet, and even if you all COULD create something like that the WORLD itself would not agree, and move to wipe you off the face of the earth!"

"**You're…kidding!"**

"No. Magic…unfortunately…in this world is a dying force. Non-magical technology is slowly taking over as your people continue to inbreed and slowly kill off your magical prowess through genetic mutation. Do you really believe that marrying and mating within the same family to 'keep your blood pure' actually makes you stronger? No! It's been proven by nature itself, you have to mix new in with the old in order to keep things moving forward! Muggle-borns have the greatest chance of creating a bridge of peace between magical and non, because they KNOW of both worlds, they grew up without magic, and yet go to schools to learn it. They know how to work things both ways; they are the most powerful beings in terms of potential due to their very upbringing! Those born into non-magical families that have the gift only are scorned because of a lack of understanding between the two people, and even THEN it's rare, because being able to control the forces of nature is something humans have been seeking since they discovered **FIRE!** By keeping yourselves isolated you only further your own demise! Meet with your magic-less brethren, for they have power you can only DREAM of! Or at least…that is what I would say if I had any intention of letting this place remain."

It was then that the world at large heard a voice.

"Please…Lord Shinigami…"

He turned. Luna Lovegood was kneeling at his feet, head bowed.

"Please…I beg of you…give us one last chance. Certainly your actions have opened the eyes of the world to their foolishness…please…give these lives one chance to follow your wishes…the wishes of our Protector Deity."

CRASH

"ow."

Hermione dropped to her knees as well. "I too beg for your forgiveness. We have been trained personally by you so our word may not hold sway but…I don't want to see this world go. I have lost too much in this stupid war to have it all end now. Please…give us another chance."

Immediately after, Ginny, Harry and surprisingly, Draco Malfoy joined in. Malfoy spoke in a tone none had heard before.

"My father…my family…our motto is to never bow to anyone. Growing up…that was our pride. That was our _life._ My father threw that away when he bowed to the feet of Voldemort. I swore to myself I'd never do the same…but…if he…the Lord of the Malfoy name…has broken the covenant that we supposedly followed…would it be wrong of me to do the same? I want the chance to ask my father why he broke our will. Why he erased our pride…"

Several bangs happened at once as all the first and second years dropped to their knees at the same time.

"Please Professor! Give us another chance!"

"You're our favorite teacher! We don't want the world to know you like this!"

"You said it yourself right? It doesn't matter what the world thinks! You live your life the way you want to! How can we do that if we don't have the chance? How can we keep going if the road is taken away from us?"

"Dammit Syl! He told us that already, we have to kick reason to the curb and make a path ourselves!...but…if he doesn't let us…"

Zero gave a very small smile. "Enough." He turned to Cornelius and Umbridge. "It seems the people have spoken. What say you, voice of the People?"

"I…will comply with their wishes."

"Indeed? Perhaps…there may be hope for you yet…"

"What?! Minister! Surely you can't-

"As for you, Dolores." This was spoken, dripping with venom. "People of minds such as you are not wanted in our new world."

Here a crackling sound rang through the hall, and the speakers of all who were listening with bated breath. A ring of green appeared upon Zero's wrist, the make surprising Harry, whose own bands began glowing in response to the appearance of their original.

"For your crimes against life forms all across this beautiful world…" The ring summoned a group of what looked like glowing stained glass tinted red.

"For your crimes against the children of this planet…" Above the ring appeared a rotating red cylinder resembling an arm-band.

"I grant you the rights accorded to an enemy of the Gods. For your crimes you shall exist from now and forever, in an endless cycle of rebirth. To be Condemned in each life to be hated, feared, scorned, punished, and obliterated, always with the screech of insects buzzing in your skull, ants gnawing at your eyeballs forever and ever. For your crimes, I sentence you to eternity without end!"

In an instant, four glowing objects appeared from the cylinder, rotating slowly like fan blades, and then stopping. As soon as they did, they fired a series of multicolored arrow-tipped weaving bands of light. The bands crashed into her body, sunk into her flesh and with a single gasp from her mouth, her form shattered into glowing red pieces that converged upon a single point into a small sphere. The sphere then became engulfed in a wave of darkness…and vanished.

"**D-Diagon Ally…It's BACK!"**

"You are lucky I tempered my actions with my own power…or else the destruction would have been permanent. Know this: this…has been a warning. Should the events leading up to this moment repeat themselves, I will have no objection to ignoring your pleas and wiping this entire country off the face of the planet. Now. If you will excuse me, I have a class to teach."

* * *

"I would like for you to explain what just transpired."

"Like all you want, anything I say is cause I feel like saying it. I simply took your people's ignorance and twisted it into a physical manifestation of the destructive force it truly is." Here Zero cast a look toward Maya who was sitting on Luna's lap.

"Honestly, I had no true intention to return those places to this world. I fully planned on leaving the lives lost to remain that way, as proof of your people's stupidity…you're lucky I'm the type of weaver that pays attention to the will of his people."

Maya gave a sad smile.

_Something's not right about this._

As the conversation continued, Zero pointing out in a less harsh manner exactly what it was that was leading the world to ruin, Mikoto watched her 'father' carefully. Leaning against the far wall near Fawkes' post, she gazed with calculating eyes, carefully monitoring the sudden shifting of the young God Slayer's aura.

_I've never seen this pattern before. It's so…chaotic. As if he's barely holding something in._

"…anyway, I gotta set something really important up. Potter."

Harry stood a bit straighter.

"What was it this old coot in front of me said your greatest weapon was?"

Harry scoffed. "Love. He somehow expects me to Love Voldemort to death."

Zero gave a smirk. Mikoto's eyes narrowed further. _It doesn't reach his eyes._

"He's right…actually."

Everyone blinked.

"…what?"

"Zero? How can that be? Harry can't…well he probably could if the bastard deserved it but-

"**Love **is Harry's power. **Love **is a Chaos all its own…and it is a power even stronger than _Hate_. Voldemort isn't to be the target of Harry's love. You see, Voldemort doesn't know love, he only knows hate. As such he only knows fear, rage, disdain. He never learned the joys, the feeling that comes from loving and being loved. He never learned of the _bond _that forms between true friends, true family…true loved ones. Old man, you were pretty much spot on when you'd hoped the Dursleys would work for Harry. You had it in your mind that just because they were non-magical, they wouldn't mistreat him… If they were proper people, you'd be right. But they weren't. As such, Harry grew up without love, much like Voldemort. Only Harry found friendship, he found love, while Voldemort never bothered to."

The demi-god walked away from Dumbledore's desk.

"Harry…there is a skill known to few. It is an ability that takes the power of the **Heart**, and makes it real. It is a power that draws from the connections forged between people. All the power you've acquired up until now is vast yes, but it won't be enough to permanently put Voldemort down. What needs to happen, is for you to use this skill."

"What is it?"

"It goes by many names, and comes in many forms. At its core, it is nothing more than **Love **manifested into truth. I'll teach you how it works once I finish my preparations. I can say this…you're lucky to have friends who care about you kiddo. This power…well…it transcends reality itself."

_There it is again. What the hell am I missing?_

"I'll be back in a couple days. It's the weekend anyway so no classes obviously. Gotta think up a lesson plan…but I'll say one more thing before I go. Now that my display of power has been shown, Voldemort is gonna up the ante reeeeal soon. Now that he knows someone exists who's power dwarfs his, he's gonna get desperate. The final battle is coming."

Hermione inquired. "How long?"

"Can't be sure. Though I've taken up mantle of Weaver for this world, I'm sorry to say I didn't have Clotho's natural talent for it. But I've long since known this world has been weaving itself, and from the way the threads are coming together, I'd give it a month or two."

"Just in time for the end of the school year."

"Ironic how that works huh?"

* * *

He had left. And not long after Mikoto did as well. The others went about their own devices, the trio of girls realizing something was off about him through their seals, but unable to figure out what.

Unfortunately, he had a habit of vanishing, and when he did, nobody could find him…nobody but one being.

(BGM: Halo 2 – In Amber Clad)

She found him sitting atop the castle, in an area inaccessible to anything that couldn't fly. He was just sitting against a wall, knees pulled up to his head.

"Is it all pointless Miko? Is what I'm trying to do so against the flows of this world that even the majority of the people don't adhere to the subtle changes of the threads? Is the Universe meant to spiral into uncontrollable chaos due to the inevitable realization of this world's people? Am I merely delaying what is meant to come?"

"…you're nothing like she said you'd be. I expected a heartless monster…a destroyer of worlds uncaring of the people within."

"Yeah…that's me. But not always. I hate that part of me. I hate that I have to be that. I hate what this world's done to him…to them."

"Then why not change it?"

"I tried once. I tried but she's put into place so many events that if I make too big a mistake then things will spiral downward…"

"And today's events don't count?"

He looked up at her. "Surprisingly no. It's like the world itself WANTED my existence to be known to these people. I've noticed very little change in the threads."

"Then that means you're doing something right…right?"

"Or not enough."

"Oh come on. Why are you up here sulking? You let loose a bunch of frustration at these people I could practically SEE building off you, you put into motion the beginning of the end of this pointless 'war'…and I know what you were talking about…"

"Yeah…"

"You tried it didn't you? Back then…with mother."

"Failed miserably. Oh I triggered it alright. It did everything it was supposed to. But it wasn't enough to hold that world together."

"I know. But you're teaching it to him, he can do this."

"I know he can. But the question is, will it matter?"

"You should know the answer to that."

"I should…but I don't. I just don't know what to do Miko…I've been around for millennia…shifting between god and mortal…and yet I still have no frigging clue what to do…"

She sat down next to him. "Have faith. You said it yourself; the world is mostly weaving its own thread. Though this is but a small part of this planet, this area obviously has a massive impact on the rest of the world…this battle…it will change this entire planet. If Harry wins…the world moves on. If Tom wins…the world stops…but…what I don't understand…is why you're so adamant on _this _particular world."

"…She reminds me of your mother."

"The bookworm?"

He gave a soft snort. "Yeah. I see you, and her…in…well…her. I see your mother the most in Luna…and you the most in Ginny…but Hermione…she's like…a fusion of the three of us."

"You think…"

"I dunno. The 'verse works in strange ways Miko. Balance…Fate…Death…Destruction…Existence…Nothingness…Time… All those deities exist…and yet the Universe still somehow has a will all its own."

"You're thinking of incarnating here aren't you?"

"Is it that obvious?"

"You've focused a bit too much on this place it seems. Something had to have garnered your attention for you to look so heavily on one plane. Claris is good but…"

"Hey she's holding in there. She's got Alicia and Schala backing her up, not to mention Kouji and Hotaru."

"Who still will kick your ass once she finds out you added yet _another _soul to the Harem."

"Bah…not my fault…"

"It is…and it isn't. I don't know what to tell you…just…do what you always do. Break through the limits-

"And kick reason to the curb. To think I'd be hearing such words from you Kit."

"They can do this. _You _can do this. I don't know what that Maya girl saw but whatever comes will come…and we'll fight it together."

He blinked at her. "I thought you hated me."

"I do. But I think it's the same type of hate _she _had towards you. You hate them so much you can't live without them. I've gotten to know the man behind the monster Clotho painted…and…I KNOW I'm gonna regret saying this but…I'm proud…to call you my daddy."

* * *

_Soon…it will come soon…_

_My end…is not to be…_

_I must…I will…_

_I understand now…_

_Strange…how she wishes it to be…_

_I can still…_

_Zero…_

_You will succeed here…_

_Where you failed before…_

_This…I promise…_

* * *

It's been a while everyone. How has life been treating you all? I have an update for you. As stated in this chapter, the beginning of the end is coming. Those of you who've stuck with this, I thank you…and I have a little surprise coming for you all in the next couple chapters.

Markrock18: I'm glad you like the fighting. Honestly, I think its crap. I mean, I know I'm better than some, but…ugh. You have to understand, I see it in my mind, and it flows like water. It's so…_difficult _to translate that into written word properly…because there are so many movements that are impossible to show. There are so many subtle actions that are taken in the battles I attempt to write, that just can't be seen unless you were in my head at the time I thought of them.

It's really annoying too…epic fights become less epic due to my inability to properly show you all what I see in my head for these battles. But…I do my best. And I'm glad someone thinks what I consider my worst to be good…

As for Zero…well, he's based off of myself actually. His powers come from my own imagination combined with craploads of different media inputs. It's difficult to explain…I'll update my profile with information on his general existence soon. Keep reading, the end is coming…and generally my ends are friggin epic.

Graypheonix: Updatage! After months of inactivity! Enjoy!

D&S Master: Of course Zee can kill whoever he wants, I mean, he honestly COULD just snap his fingers, realize his power over Destruction into the world and wipe Voldemort off the face of the universe…but if he did, that world would tear itself apart from his actions (because Clotho decreed it that only the Marked one could destroy Voldemort. If an outside force did it, it would cause problems) and then the end of that world would lead to problems on other worlds.

Hunter1: Heh, I've started up Brave Story again, Been wanting to get to re-starting Wild Arms XF, STILL have to at least get the B ending in Valkyrie Profile Lenneth, STILL have to finish my run of Persona 3, and finally get past the first area in Persona 3 FES…and that's on top of the second job I got…

And then once I get a 360…oooooh _sheeeit _son. Tales of Vesperia, Devil May Cry 4, Ninja Gaiden 2, Dead or Alive 4, Infinite Undiscovery, Eternal Sonata…Halo 3…FEAR…

And on TOP of all that…getting onto Final Fantasy XI finally after so friggin long.

Alright everyone, I'm out for now. Have fun andoaoenorbvoanboa………………………………

_It's coming…_

_The revolution of the world…_

"_To think…defeated by one…such as you…"_

"_Dammit! Who the HELL can block Divinity here?!"_

_Are you ready?_

"_**The time has come…Tenken…I will bathe in your blood!"**_

"_He will not survive this…not unless we intervene."_

"_You! You're dead! I killed you myself!"_

_Let's welcome __**Chaos…**_


	12. Reparing a Blunder

**Reverse Rebirth**

**Chapter XI: A Mistake Corrected**

_Wait…something is wrong here…_

_No…don't tell me he forgot!_

_Zero you fool! Something must be done to correct this…_

_The girl…I must get a message to Zero…_

_He must correct this mistake before it is too late…_

_The last Crimson Noble…the last tie to Armitage line…_

_She __**must **__be saved…_

* * *

(BGM: Tales of Vesperia – Vow of Unity)

It's amazing how much can change in a single week.

_It's funny…I thought I would be out of office by now…it seems agreeing with the God Slayer was truly a good idea…_

Cornelius Fudge, Minister of Magic, had retained his position. Currently, he was sitting at his desk looking over some of the bullshit laws he had signed in his tenure.

_I truly was an arrogant greedy fool… _He gave a sad chuckle. _To think…it required the near deaths of two so close to me before I came to my senses…_

You see…on that fateful day when Zero Shinzaki, Resident Weaver of this world and all around God Slayer, had eradicated multiple places without a single twitch or show of concern or emotion, Cornelius' twin nieces were in Diagon Ally doing their tri-monthly potion's stocking.

For you see there was _another _thing nobody knew. His nieces were two of those unfortunate victims bitten by Werewolves. Yes, Cornelius Fudge had Lycanthropes in his family…

And he couldn't love them more.

_Unity…if we'd had that from the start…no…there is no point in thinking of the what-ifs. They would tell me to think on the now. And the now is simple._

He dipped his quill in some ink and began writing…

**Two hours Later…**

_It is done. Now…the legends state that one who seeks the God Slayer need project his wishes…_

Taking a deep breath, the Minister closed his eyes…and prayed.

Not moments later, a swirling vortex appeared before him. After nothing came from it for a near half minute, the minister gathered his wits, and his papers, and called his assistant.

"Percival, to my office immediately please. And before you do, tell Penny to cancel all meetings for the day…something much more important has come up."

* * *

"…Well…Minister Fudge. What a surprise to see you here."

Dumbledore was confused. A glowing rift had just appeared in the middle of the Room of Requirement where the Order was holding their latest meeting. From it stepped Percival Weasely, and Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Magic himself. Immediately the Order went on guard.

"Sirius Black?!" Surprise and fear was on the Minister's face…before it changed to grim resignation. "…another one of our blunders I assume. It was said you killed an entire street of muggles with one spell, laughing the entire time…yet to see you here…no…it must be a mistake. Percival, make a note. I am re-opening the case of Sirius Black."

Fumbling for a quill, Percy almost flinched when the Room provided a quill, an ink pot, a scroll of parchment AND a table and stool to sit and write upon.

The Minister was only slightly less surprised.

"Impressive."

Dumbledore spoke. "Indeed. Now Cornelius, might I ask why…or rather, how…you are here?"

"I wish to speak with the God Slayer."

"Really now. And what do you want with me?"

"You said you were weaving the threads of this world yourself correct? Tell me, have they changed at all?"

"…yes. Oddly enough through no action of mine…why?"

He said nothing and simply handed over the papers he brought. Zero glanced through them and grinned. After reading the last one, a feral smile was on his face.

"It would seem there _is _hope for you yet."

The group was confused. Dumbledore inquired. "Master Zero, what is it he has given you?"

"A transcript of new laws he plans on putting into action. There are revised Werewolf laws, Vampire laws, a new law defining exactly what counts as dark or light magic…I'm impressed."

"I wanted to come to you for your advice on how to handle this situation."

"I'm no politician. I _hate _politics."

"I am not surprised. But please, all I wish is to know how to better deal with these beings…" he sighed. "If only we knew what they truly _were._"

"A virus."

Everyone's heads snapped to Zero, shocked. "A plague. A disease that should be purged and eradicated for the good of mankind."

Eyes widened.

"What? It's true. From the moment a person is bitten, they become infected. The virus spreads through the body, changing their internal structure. The poison flows through the blood, into the heart, and from there the changes occur. It then attacks the brain, attempting to transform it into one of a mindless beast. However due to the nature of humans, our minds instinctively fight the intrusion as our bodies attempt to compensate for the sudden shift. The poison causes nails to lengthen at incalculable rates, blood flow quickens, muscles become stronger, bones become denser to avoid breakage, the brain begins accessing the instinctual traits that have been suppressed by our humanity and triggers stronger senses of all."

Silence. He continued.

"After that, during the initial transformation, the human mind – struggling against the sudden change of instincts and needs – splits in twain. One bathes in the changes, becoming one with the instinctual beast within all human souls, and the other remains the person they once were. Then comes the struggle between the two. Generally, what happens is that the struggle is ongoing, the beast within never truly gaining ground on the human until the nights of the full moon, where the energies of our satellite force the transformation, giving the beast within a much needed boost in strength to overcome the human. See the thing is, Wolfsbane potion subdues the beast even on nights of the full moon, so while the internal wolf triggers the external transformation, the beast itself is silent, allowing the human within to take control of the beast's form."

Still silence. He continued further.

"However…there are those who have accepted the beast within. Not in the way your Fenrir Grayback does and uses his beastly form to savagely attack 'normals', but in a sense where Man and Beast have triggered a unification. The human mind and beastly instincts combine as one through understanding, acceptance and trust. This normally only happens when the added abilities of an 'un-triggered Lycan' – three times the strength of a normal human, twice the speed, increased reaction times, pack-oriented mindset – assist the subject in an important matter, generally involving someone they care about. When this happens, sometimes the human mind comes to an understanding that there is no going back from this, but it doesn't have to be all bad. This mindset is greatly assisted when there is no outside stress or worry of others looking down upon them for being a Lycan, or any sort of job related backlash. After this happens, the two minds form a sort of pact. The human mind will rely on the inner beast to protect that which they wish to protect, and the inner beast will do so out of pack loyalty."

Surprised looks all around.

"Of course there have been cases where the human mind was powerful enough to, as the Americans say, 'kick the wolf to the curb.' Which means that they dominated and defeated the inner beast, gaining its abilities and instincts with no drawbacks. But this is extremely rare. Hell, the best thing about these unisons is though the transformation still hurts, the pain becomes slowly ignorable because the mind and body aren't fighting one another, and there have been cases where the transformation became internalized, where the Full Moon simply increased the power gained by a Lycan, but the person gained the ability to transform at any given time at will. Also, through this method, if one reaches the point where they can trigger their transformation at any time, to and from the inner beast, Silver does nothing to them, unless injected into the body."

Cornelius spoke. "Wait…you mean…it's possible to stop the transformations entirely?!" A glimmer of hope appeared in his eyes.

"Not so much stop entirely. It's actually a good thing to transform once in a while, generally on the full moon, specifically because it _is _caused by a poison in the body. And each transformation flushes the body of the poison for a time, but because the poison reached the heart and brain, it is steadily being reproduced through internal organs. So to stop entirely would eventually cause more damage than it seems, but yes, one can…postpone…the transformations if they have reached the required level."

"Can you teach them?"

Everyone looked at Fudge, who seemed desperate.

"Define: 'teach.'"

"Can you guide them to a point where their transformations will at the least be less painful?"

"The Wolfsbane potion does that already."

"I know, but sometimes a potion cannot be accessed…can you or can you not?"

"It is…possible…but it would require a young enough mind…adult minds are too solid to convert like that. Hell even teenagers are pushing it because that's when the mental defenses begin building. But…I probably could. It's simple really…it's only made difficult by the people…why?"

"I…" He didn't know how to continue. To speak of them now…could put them in danger.

"How old?"

"Wh-what?"

"How old are they? Twins, right?"

"Sixteen… They were born as the day shifted. So one will always be just a few seconds older."

"Close…but I could pull it off. You'd have to arrange things though, I don't have the time to go all over the place."

Fudge breathed a sigh of relief.

"What about Vampires?"

"Vampires…are different. Most of them are too violent to really have walking around…but there is something…I know of a vampire who suppresses the instinct of feeding on human blood by having a set of blood packs chilled by her maids constantly. She doesn't need it often, but once in a while she gets overcome, so the maid just gives her one of those. Muggle blood donation banks always have people donating blood for medical purposes. You could strike up an arrangement with a few of them to supply certain places with access to those…or make a very specific type of Blood Pop to actually be MADE from blood. I'm sure the Weasely twins would be up for that bit. But most of them relish in the slaughter of innocents…so the majority of them would be put down…but having the option to go to a specified location…that would at least make a showing of good faith. Really depends on the type of vampire though…"

"Type?"

Ginny piped up for once. "Yeah! Like True Ancestors, or Crimson Nobles…"

"Exactly. In fact I know a Tru-…

(Stop Song)

"Wait…what did you just say?"

"Crimson Nobles. Don't tell me you-

(BGM: Onimusha Dawn of Dreams – Hideyoshi's Decisive Battle)

Zero's eyes widened as he whirled around. A huge blue-green array of runes and glyphs appeared beneath his feet. Comprised of the sign of Chaos within an array of squares arranged to make a twelve pointed star, the glyph flared with light as he intoned his commands as Weaver of that world.

"**Execute command: Analysis. Key Component: Crimson Noble, Final. Status and Location Request!"**

"Zero! What are you-

The glyph vanished as the information entered his mind. There was a blinding flare of light as six silver ethereal wings burst from his back in a wave of feather shaped energy. Seconds later…he vanished.

* * *

_Yes…correct your mistake…_

_But…they have not seen his true nature…_

_Power beyond their scope…_

_The will of Destruction is not the only…_

_Come…behold…_

* * *

Not moments after Zero vanished in a wave of light, Maya began to glow. From beneath her feet the rune of Creation materialized within a magic circle. The room seemed to flicker like a bad television image before turning completely black. In front of the group formed a glowing screen…one that showed what was happening…

* * *

**Unknown Location…**

"Bloody hell it's boring around here…"

"Shh…the Dark Lord has been in a bad mood lately, be glad we've got guard duty outside this place. We DON'T want to be in his way."

"Yeah…but still…I wish something would happen."

**BOOOM**

"What the h-hwuaaa…guh."

In seconds the Death Eater was suddenly split in twain.

"Holy shi-

And the other right after.

Zero had appeared…and he was on a mission.

_I screwed up. Fuck how could I forget her?! Dammit…I was so focused on Hermione that I missed her…_

Punching straight through a near-transparant dome around the underground fortress where Voldemort had maid his lair, Zero's glowing wings seemed to flare with light, before his body became covered in black.

_Enough. There is a time for panic, and there is a time for action. To panic now would just seal her fate._

_I've caused enough disturbance for now. They will be on the move._

_Through the shadow of Death I walk. Her messenger I become once again…_

* * *

"What…does that mean?"

"He once was a mercenary." Eyes glanced at Mikoto as she spoke.

"Father used to be known as the Shinigami, the God Slayer. Feared in over a hundred realms for his skill with the art of Death. It's been nearly a millennium since he last adopted that form. Watch…you'll see better than I can explain…"

* * *

A spray of blood shot from a cloaked figure. His partner turned, launching multiple bursts of light at the sudden distortion of air that seemed to dance around each shot, a blurred figure approaching. In seconds the death eater's wand was sliced in twain, and following that his arm. Before the man could make a single noise, his neck was severed and his head dropped to the ground. Almost as an afterthought, the assailant cut through the dead man's legs as well, to be certain that no magic could restore the fallen man to life.

From shadow to shadow the blurred figure of Zero did leap, a gleaming flicker of silver the last thing anyone saw before the agent of Death claimed them. In seconds one would loose his arm, while another would suddenly drop from a lost leg, as a bounding blur raced along the halls. Zero prepared to turn a corner, but stopped as he sensed another small group approaching.

Power welling up silently within him, he weaved his command. Making a gripping motion, he clenched a fist. The man in the center of the group suddenly exploded, showering his companions with blood and chunks of flesh. Three black knife shaped energy bolts suddenly launched from behind the corner, striking through two death eater's bodies, piercing the Point that only Zero could see, causing the area around the impact zone to suddenly collapse, their bodies falling apart as if broken glass. The third missed the point as its target narrowly evaded the flung bolt, only to find himself with a snapped neck from a fierce aerial spinning kick launched by the Assassin God.

The remaining two death eaters drew their wands, only to have one of them be lifted by an unknown force, and flung into the other, where a pipe was pulled from the wall, and sent straight through the point of both of them.

_I'm getting closer…I can feel it…_

* * *

They wanted to look away…but they couldn't. They all watched the display of death and destruction that the one they called a friend, and in one viewer's eyes, a possible love, carved a bloody path through Voldemort's human forces.

Only two were unaffected by the display…Mikoto, one who had seen such acts before…

And Maya.

_He's…amazing! I know I should be sick…I shouldn't be seeing this…I should be somehow…disgusted…but…_

_They all deserve it. And I know that…but…does my lack of care…_

_Am I a horrible person?_

He was moving too fast. All anyone saw was a blur dashing around, a flicker of motion bounding between bodies, from the wall, to the ceiling, to the wall again, and then to the floor.

"Dammit, can anyone see what he's doing? It's too fast!"

Almost as if responding to Ginny's request, Maya's body became enshrouded within an ethereal glow once again. The room seemed to pulse, and suddenly, his motions became clear.

While still a blur, they could now make out the details of his attacks. They watched him crouch low from landing on the ground before flicking his knife out in a vertical upwards swing, slicing through one man's arm, before flicking it back around so he was holding it like a sword and pivoting on his foot to slice through the man's torso. As Zero slowly spun behind the man, he made two more slashes, one diagonally right; downwards, and the second one vertically down, right along the spine.

As he seemed to bounce off the ground and run along the wall, the man he'd just attacked fell to the ground, his body falling apart at the seams of where Zero's blade touched flesh.

"He **can **see them!"

"See what Luna?"

"The Lines! The lines of death! He can see them like me! …or maybe I should say _I _can see them the way **he **does…"

They saw him flip over a man, making three slashes, two to the head, and one along the chest. As spun low and slashed at the legs of another man, the one he just attacked fell apart as well, causing many of the viewers to turn a shade of green.

Maya just smiled wider.

Slowly, they watched his dance of death…until finally, he reached his destination.

_Here!_

* * *

Finally, he reached his destination. A single iron door barred his path. Almost effortlessly, he raised an arm towards the portal, and yanked backward. The doorway ripped from its hinges and slammed into a nearby wall.

"It's…about…time."

"Lillith…"

"For…a second…I was…worried."

"You…you remember?"

"A lot…more than…just…what came before…"

"…what?"

Zero was confused, but he crushed the binds holding the nearly nude red-head in place. Her clothes were tattered, ripped…her body covered in bruises, scars, bleeding cuts…

"…so I was right then."

"Maybe…"

"You're…his mo-

"Right now…I'm in no shape…to be anyone's ANYTHING…let alone…someone's mother…"

"But you _are._"

"…yeah…just…tell me…"

His hands glowed as he healed some of her more recent wounds, unable to perform the full recovery spell due to their location, and not having time.

"Is…is my son…"

* * *

"…**is Harry…safe?"**

Silence. Silence followed that question.

"…**not at first. But…he is now. And he's currently seeing one of my Chosen."**

"…**I'll…want to see him."**

"**You will…let's just get out of here first ok?" **They watched him shake his head. **"Lillith Vanes….last name scrambled spells 'Evans'…I should have realized it sooner."**

"….Mum…?"

Immediately Lillith's head perked up.

"…**Harry?"**

"**Huh?"**

"**I…I thought…"**

"…**well then…looks like another puzzle…come on Lilly…lets get you out of here."**

The two were surrounded by a violet glow, and a second later appeared above the mansion.

"But first…a page from Broly's book."

One arm wrapped around Lillith's body, Zero extended his right hand out. A shining violet light appeared in front of it, as the world around them seemed to turn purple for a moment, before the color condensed into a sphere just in front of his hand. He pulled his hand to the side, and then thrust it in a pushing motion. The sphere rocketed from its position and crashed into the mansion with a brilliant flare of violet light and a mighty explosion.

The transparent black orb Zero had condensed around him and his charge flared its energy a few times, before a series of symbols appeared around it. After a brief moment of a loud whirring sound, the sphere vanished, taking with it Lillith and Zero.

* * *

(BGM: Persona 3 FES - Interstice of Time)

"…ugh…what hit me…?"

"Apparently everything but the kitchen sink…and even then I can't be certain."

Lillith's eyes slowly opened. She tried to sit up, but was gently stopped by the soft touch of a hand right on the crest of her busom.

"Not yet…I'm not done healing your wounds."

She noted that she lay on a table, naked and with multiple glowing curved 'screens' floating around her.

"Med-bay? Did I…just wake up…in a Star Wars movie?"

Zero chuckled as he typed in a few keys on the glowing green screen in front of him. Hovering spheres of energy lanced rays of light at the young woman occasionally.

"Nope, just some Enlightened Healing."

Lillith nodded slightly. Unknown to her, Zero had kept the others silent as he worked.

"So…you really Lily Potter?"

"I…think so. I think I've always been."

"Reincarnation then."

"Something like that…nobody knows how the AK really works…just that it makes people dead."

"Imprints on the caster's wand too."

"…really?"

"Yep. Harry learned that the hard way."

"…Harry…"

"Your son."

"…I'm not old enough to be anyone's mother. I mean…I feel like…I remember having him…holding him…but…it's not…"

"It's not _you _who did it. It's who you _were._ Believe me, I know how that feels. Before Death recruited me as the Dream Lord I kept having flashes from the past lives of the Chaos Lords before me…what I want to know is _how_. Last time you were fully intergrated with Lillith…"

"Your little time reversal trick."

He froze for a moment, staring at the naked girl in front of him.

"…mortals aren't supposed to notice things like that..."

"Mortals aren't supposed to know damn near every detail of their past lives either."

"Touché. Alright…I can see that happening. So what…did I kill Lillith?"

The screens all but vanished. She sat up, taking the green button up shirt he offered her, not that it mattered since everyone got a full on view of her.

"I think…it's more like we've switched places. The part of me that was Lily Potter back then was the dormant mindset…and this time, the part of Lillith is the dormant one."

"…that doesn't make any sense, I only rewound a certain distance…"

"Doesn't matter, the sheer _power _used to cause a universal wide rewind forced our mindsets to switch."

"…ok now _that _makes sense…"

"It does. Now…my son. Where is he?"

"I swear…you're like friggin Alma Wade…" He gestured and Harry practically flew forward. "He's right here."

The two looked at each other.

"…mum?"

Immediately Lillith burst into tears and glomped Harry.

"…my baby…my baby's alive…"

Zero turned slowly, once again the Dream Lord's emotions becoming chaotic. _I shouldn't…I really shouldn't…_

Mikoto smiled at the tearful reunion between mother and son, before her senses screamed at her that another massive change was going to happen. Before she could act on her instincts however, Zero vanished in a very faint wave of particles.

…_I need to go blow off some steam._

_Might as well even up the odds anyway…_

* * *

…_To think…I viewed him as a monster…an uncaring fool wearing the guise of a human…_

_to fear his power so much that his true personality became invisible to me…to have caused him…and this realm so much trouble because I feared him…what he represented…_

_And now…he is going to do what I did…only…I…I think he might just make things __**better.**_

_The time is coming…I cannot stay here any longer…that world's final battle is soon at hand…_

* * *

LAAAAAATE. Yes I know, late as a mother fuck. Lillith being Lily reborn was a plotline I'd intended to use in the first fic of this series. Which is why her name was what it was. Of course, at the time Zero had too much on his mind to figure it out, not to mention right after he was forced to do the Big Rewind.

Now before anyone flames about this, look at it this way. As far as I've researched, NOBODY knows _how _the killing curse works, just that it does. Unless someone does something to the body after, the body is in the exact same condition it was prior to being AK'd, just…dead. So, I figure that somewhere, Lily and James have been reborn, it's just that Lily was the one to perform the protection on Harry, so it makes a bit more sense that Harry's life force would call forth his mother's to be born in a body closer to him.

I'm going to end this fic soon. Big epic battles. There'll be timeskips, that there will be. Buuut…I think you'll like the end result.

Plus, I've got a plotline for a completely different HP fic building in my mind…I just have no idea how I'm going to work it.

Grayphoenix: update…as late as it is.

D&S Master: Eternal Sonata's fun. I keep having to help my girlfriend with the bosses though. And I basically had to solve a dungeon for her. I'm starting up my own run of that game though…been mostly playing Ar Tonelico II and F.E.A.R. 2.

Hunter 1: CTDS is awesome! Soon Platinum will be out though…I'm definitely Action Replaying that thing so I can actually USE decent poke's during the game. I don't much like D/P's original pokemon…so I'll just give myself the National so I can go through the game the way I want to. With my Blaziken Akiha at my side!


End file.
